Severe Drought Causes Hunger Crisis in Madagascar

By Staff, Action Against Hunger

Droughts in Grand Sud, Madagascar, have sharply increased in both frequency and intensity in recent years. Bearing the full brunt of the effects of climate change, families who live in this region have seen drastic impacts on their livelihoods and health.

In 2020, there were virtually no rains. Historically low rainfall levels depleted the few sources of clean water that existed in this chronically dry region. As a result, water-borne illnesses such as diarrhea have increased sharply. And, without rain, there could be no harvests. Food insecurity and malnutrition rose.

“What little I produced in the past has been completely consumed. I don't know the dates, but it's been a long time since I had a harvest,” says Maliha, 38, a single mother of eight children. “Since the rain stopped, the children are not eating regularly. I give them whatever I can find, like cactus leaves. With this diet, they have diarrhea and nausea, but we have no choice. At least it doesn't kill them.”

Many families struggled to survive 2020, and hoped for a better year in 2021. Sadly, the rains have not yet come.

“Kéré” means famine in Malagasy, Madagascar’s national language. It’s a term that too many families are familiar with, too often: periods of hunger come annually between harvests in Grand Sud.

This year, the lean period has been longer and drier than usual – and the hunger crisis more severe. Persistent drought and sandstorms have resulted in the second consecutive year of poor harvests. And, while food prices continue to rise, families have run out of what remained of their reserves and many cannot afford what’s in the market.

Right now, an estimated 1.14 million people in the Grand Sud are suffering from severe acute food insecurity, including nearly 14,000 people who are struggling to survive famine conditions. More than 135,000 are acutely malnourished, and more than 27,000 of those children are suffering from the deadliest form of hunger - severe acute malnutrition.

“The lean season comes every year, but right now, it is particularly hard. It has lasted the whole year. Before, the rain fell during the months of January, February, and March and allowed the cultivation of varieties of melons and pumpkins,” says Jean Delacroix Tsimanantsiny, Deputy Head of Programs for Action Against Hunger in one of the hardest hit districts, Ambovombe. "This year, the rains have never fallen and the population is suffering."