Recurrent Drought and COVID-19 have Brought Southern Madagascar to its Knees

Lack of rain and poor harvests have left more than one-third of southern Madagascar’s population short of food, not knowing from where their next meal will come. The World Food Program says 1.3 million people are going hungry, nearly double what it was in the same period last year. The World Food Program is providing food aid to nearly a half-million people in the nine hardest hit districts in southern Madagascar.  The WFP says it would like to scale up its assistance program to reach almost 900,000 of the most vulnerable by June. However, that depends on funding.  Currently, the agency says it is running a deficit and urgently needs $35 million to provide lifesaving food, badly-needed cash and malnutrition treatment programs to the many in desperate need.

SOURCE: VOA