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Africa

Children wasting away as hunger hits 200,000 in Madagascar

– At least 16 children dead –

While the WFP sees the latest drought as causing acute food insecurity rather than famine, the villagers themselves say they are wasting away.

Raharisoa, a terrifyingly thin woman of 25, sits on the ground. Her two-year-old daughter died of hunger in December.

“We couldn’t look after our child,” she sighs. “Because of the famine, the adults are weak and cannot take care of the little ones.”

“In December, four children died in our village because of the famine,” said Masy, a healthcare worker in Berano.

In the neighbouring village of Imongy, the head of the area’s Health Centre, Marc Andriakotonindrina, says a dozen children died of hunger in December, according to information collected by local health-workers.

“These children showed no sign of sickness, they simply lost weight bit by bit until their demise,” he added.

The drought destroyed all of the crops growing in southern Madagascar and efforts by farmers to replant were to no avail, simply reducing seed stocks and food supplies.

When the rain finally came in February it was far too late.

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The government says 200,000 to 350,000 people are suffering from hunger in the low-income nation of 22 million people, which is ranked 155th of 187 countries on the UNDP’s Human Development Index.

More than 70 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

In the last weeks, WFP rations have enabled 120,000 people to get regular meals.

And while Agriculture Minister Roland Ravatomanga has pledged to distribute food aid to drought-struck areas, this would have to come on top of the government’s efforts to find help for flood victims.

Torrential rain late last month that caused flooding and mudslides left 22 people dead and drove more than 63,000 from their homes in the capital, Antananarivo.

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