Madagascar: Two million people at risk of drought

From October 2021 to mid-January 2022, southern Madagascar saw a 70% drop in rainfall and local areas received less than 45% of normal rainfall. The southern region of Madagascar has experienced severe drought conditions in three consecutive seasons, and light rainfall in six of the last seven seasons.

Rainfall was significantly lower than normal, and earlier this year led to drought conditions in most parts of the country. Crop and livestock production is projected to fall below average. This will greatly increase food insecurity throughout the southern region. Meanwhile, extremely high food prices, and years of drought in southern Madagascar, have eroded the capacity of many families to cope, and current humanitarian assistance is set to end in April 2022.

The World Food Program (WFP) has said that emergency food aid in Madagascar should be increased and maintained by early 2023 to prevent the crisis from escalating.

Many poor families face serious challenges in accessing seeds, which are limited in supply and quality. Prices are also significantly above average.

Local labor demand is expected to fall below average due to agricultural inefficiency, poor seasonal yields. Large-scale humanitarian assistance, including food, water and livelihood support, is urgently needed by early 2023. In the absence of increased foreign support for the region, the crisis has intensified, according to analysis and forecasts, and statistics show that nearly three million people will be directly affected by the crisis.

_{Source and Credit: FEW, UNnews}