The current situation, caused by several years of drought, led the head of the World Food Program, David Beasley, who was in the area recently, to say it “looks like something you’d see in a horror movie.”
Today, WFP Regional Director for Southern Africa, Lola Castro, who accompanied Beasley on her trip, spoke about a “very tragic” situation in a video interview with various media outlets. And the French news agency (AFP) quoted the worst as saying.
“We have people on the brink of starvation and there is no conflict. There is only climate change, and its worst effects are affecting them seriously, considering that there is a need for quick action by the international community.
“These people have not contributed anything to climate change and are now bearing the brunt of the burden,” Castro said, quoting Beasley.
The famine in Madagascar is particularly strong in the south of the country. More than a month ago, the United Nations already warned that increasing hunger was putting more than a million people at risk.
An island in the Indian Ocean, Madagascar remains inaccessible, both for humanitarian aid and the media, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions.
Aid agencies are trying to raise awareness of the tragedy but are calling for the funds to be earmarked, saying the current funds are insufficient.
