Southern Madagascar is on the verge of witnessing a severe humanitarian crisis as hundreds of thousands struggle with the impact of a prolonged drought, according to United Nations officials.

Issa Sanogo, the United Nations resident coordinator on the Indian Ocean island nation said on Monday, August 23, that the hunger season looms as many Madagascans will be left without basic necessities of life.

“The hunger season is coming, people may be left without the means to eat, without money to pay for health services, or to send their children to school, to get clean water, and even to get seeds to plant for the next agricultural season.

“We started the visit in Betroka, then moved further south to Amboasary and Ambovombe, two areas located in arid lands, where we encountered populations dealing with crop failures. There, almost three million people are suffering the consequences of two consecutive extreme droughts. In the town of Amboasary Atsimo, about 75 per cent of the population is facing severe hunger and 14,000 people are on the brink of famine.”
Issa Sanogo

Meanwhile, insufficient rains since 2019 in the Grand Sud or the Big South of Madagascar have caused the most severe drought witnessed in the country since 1981. As a result, people have resorted to desperate survival measures such as “eating locusts, raw red cactus fruits or wild leaves”

Madagascar is the world’s largest grower of vanilla, most of which is produced in the northeast of the world’s fourth-largest island. However, citizens in the south rely on subsistence agriculture from small landholdings, according to reports from the World Bank.

Moreover, Shelley Thakral, a spokeswoman for the United Nations World Food Programme, stated that “The south is vulnerable because it’s dry, while the north has tropical rain-forests”. She further noted that residents have not managed to produce crops for some time now and with the start of the lean season approaching, the situation can get worse. Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme is looking to raise $78.6 million in emergency aid to feed people in the region.

“The drought has gone on for longer than expected, and the funds received are insufficient to cover current and future needs. We must act now. Annual crops are a problem that will probably become a new crisis in the next agricultural season.

“Resilience is the solution, and there is an urgent need to implement long-term solutions led by the Government. However, right now people need support and humanitarian assistance to get them on their feet and making a living.”
Shelley Thakral

However, a report published earlier in the year stated that more than 500,000 children younger than five years of age face the risk of malnutrition between May 2021 and April 2022.

Donors have given generously towards the Flash Appeal made at the beginning of the year. The appeal help raised more than $40 million, which has enabled some 800,000 people to receive life-saving assistance.

Meanwhile, this is what the real consequences of what climate change look like. Therefore, the whole world must come together to fight climate change to limit its impact. However, with immediate and medium-term support, Southern Madagascans will get back on their feet.