Madagascar Headed Toward Climate Change-Linked Famine It Did Not Create

"In Madagascar, hunger has already left people eating raw red cactus fruits, wild leaves, even the very locusts that helped decimate crops. The southern part of the country is experiencing its worst drought in decades, with the World Food Program warning that 1.14 million people are food-insecure and 400,000 people are headed toward starvation.

As a vast Indian Ocean island renowned for its remote beauty and unique ecosystem, Madagascar is sometimes referred to as the eighth continent. But the problems it faces now are “catastrophic,” according to WFP — and they are not primarily the result of local political or economic disorder, nor do they stem from isolated weather events.

“The big thing is there’s no conflict, but people are dying of hunger” in Madagascar, Lola Castro, who is WFP’s regional director in southern Africa and visited the worst-hit areas in June, told Today’s WorldView. The problem, Castro explained, was “clearly climate change.”"

Adam Taylor reports for the Washington Post July 1, 2021.

Source: Washington Post, 07/08/2021