Madagascar's Malnutrition Crisis: Climate Shocks and Aid Cuts Worsen Food Insecurity

Devastation from Climate Shocks

• 🦗 Cyclone Horn in March created humid conditions, leading to a proliferation of crickets that ravaged farmland in a matter of minutes.
• 🌾 In the past six months, a combination of cyclones and drought has imperiled the harvests of thousands of farmers.
• 🏜️ The region has experienced a lack of rain since the cyclone, exacerbating agricultural damage.

Escalating Malnutrition Rates

• 👶 In early 2024, nearly 8,000 children in the Grand Sud were admitted for severe acute malnutrition, mirroring figures from the 2021 famine.
• 🏥 NGOs like Action Against Hunger deploy mobile clinics when severe acute malnutrition rates are high, with one village finding 17 cases and another area reporting around 100 children affected.

Impact of Aid Suspension

• 📉 The suspension of funding from the American agency USAID has significantly impacted malnutrition relief programs.
• 💔 Action Against Hunger was forced to close two offices and lay off 200 staff due to the funding cuts, affecting about a quarter of their activities.
• 🆘 Over 1 million Malagasi in the south of the country are in need of humanitarian aid.

Government Response and Future Concerns

• 🏛️ Local governments have appealed to national authorities for intervention, but with little success, leading to feelings of neglect.
• ⚠️ NGOs warn that with dwindling development assistance and recurring climate disasters, the next tragedy could be imminent, especially given the destruction of agriculture and homes.
• 🌍 Between 2020 and 2022, climate change-induced famine led to hundreds of deaths, highlighting the ongoing vulnerability of the population.