What you need to know about the Madagascar food crisis

 

What you need to know about the Madagascar food crisis: a conversation with Mirana

There is no country in the world that has not been impacted by climate change but the impacts are unequal. Madagascar crisis didn’t just start today. The food insecurity has been there reality for more than 40 years now. These are one of the several realities of climate change in our world today. During my interaction with Mirana from Madagascar a climate fellow from UNFCCC, she stated the fact that the region (South part) has been known to be a dry area but climate change has exacerbated existing inequality that has led to “starvation” which is known in Madagascar as “kere”. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), Madagascar is the only country where climate change but war or conflict is leading to food insecurity. This buttress the fact that peace is not just the absence of war it is the ability to sustain one’s livelihood. The dangerous thing there is that, Madagascar is the largest Africa Island situated in the Indian Ocean and the fourth largest Island in the world hence they are locked up in there. This makes their migration pattern unique in such a way that, they cannot cross borders. Hence, it is always internal migration.

What resonates with me during our conversation was that, humanitarian aids should be sustainable enough so that we don’t spend extra cost in seeking for more humanitarian service in order to build resilience to its impact because they are global crisis that needs to be tackled. She asserted that, it has always been a reoccurring issue in Madagascar to be in deep food insecurity crisis especially at a particular period in a year and there have always been a temporary solution but in order to ease the burden of severe starvation and death, there is a need to provide them with a permanent solution that will no longer need yearly interventions. I totally agree with that. One of those things that makes climate finance work is when solutions are sustainable that will empower millions to be independent of aids. This reminds of the 100 million dollars annual commitments to help developing countries to combat climate change which is yet to be fulfilled.

Likewise, there are 23 regions in Madagascar. According to Mirana, the most severe hit region are three; Androy, Anosy and Atsimo – Andrefana. While communities within the distinct of Ambovombe, are among the most affected. In Africa, we are an agrarian society which implies that, majority of activities that make up our economy are climate sensitive. Currently, climate change is leading to food insecurity and in the nearest decade it can lead to conflicts amongst the farmers, herders and fishermen as it is in Sub Saharan Africa if necessary actions are not taken now. That’s why I said that, in Africa, climate change is no longer a threat but a reality.

Interview by Oladosu Adenike (oladosuadenike32@gmail.com)

Check my youtube channel: “The Ecofeminist Channel” for this video interview.

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