Madagascar: Climate-Induced Famine
/At Earth Changers, we focus on the positive - the solutions we can offer through tourism to create a positive impact and contribution to society and environment. And one our values is integrity, which for us means honestly and proactively telling the truth - one of our ‘Tourism Declares Climate Emergency’ promises - about situations which are sometimes difficult to witness - and doing the right thing.
Madagascar is currently experiencing the world’s first climate-induced famine. How can we help?
At Earth-Changers.com, we usually support Madagascar promoting positive impact volunteering for key capacity building and vital funds for research and biodiversity preservation.
However, since the Covid19 pandemic closed all international and domestic routes in 2020, volunteer travel has been prevented, and the global and country lockdowns have worsened the desperate plight of Madagascar as food distribution also becomes an issue.
Madagascar is one of the top three countries considered vulnerable to the climate crisis, which is increasingly evident: Droughts and cyclones are increasingly frequent, severe and subject to erratic seasonal change, exacerbated by the existing poverty.
This year's drought is the worst in 40 years. This is having an extreme impact on food, causing shortages and increased prices. With economic fall out and distribution challenges already being experienced from Covid, this makes a terrible situation even worse.
Madagascar has the world’s first climate-induced famine. Out of the 5 places in the world with famine currently, Madagascar is the only one where it is not being caused by conflict, but by climate change (Earthbound Report, 2021).
In southern Madagascar, where our volunteers usually go, 1.5 million people in the region, approximately half the population, are unable to find enough food to eat, with at least 135,476 children aged between six months and five years suffering from acute malnutrition.
The situation is expected to worsen.
This is an urgent crisis that needs to be widely addressed and the charity in Madagascar we usually support for volunteering has the capacity and community connections to help.
The Emergency Food Distribution project, commenced in February 2021 and currently targets seven rural health clinics across 41 high-risk villages in the southern region of the country, where no other charities are currently supporting, to:
Distribute Food: In collaboration with local community health centres, the charity distributes ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) and unprepared food, including rice, beans, and oil, to those most in need: children suffering from moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) or severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and their families.
Treat Children: Building on ongoing organisational efforts to improve the COVID-19 prevention capacity of healthcare facilities in these sites, the charity is facilitating healthcare providers in identifying and treating children with acute malnutrition, which contributes to 50% of childhood deaths.
Finance Emergency Transportation: To hospital for children with SAM who have additional complications such as respiratory infections, oedema, or dehydration.
Educate Families: Nutrition education is also delivered to all families of children with SAM or MAM to support sustainable behaviour change, whilst healthcare providers are trained to monitor and support their recovery.
Capacity Build: Working collaboratively with the local healthcare system to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and recovery of malnutrition through intensive training to Community Health agents.
Can you please help us support the project?
