For several months, nearly 1.35 million people have been struggling to eat their fill in southern Madagascar. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), this could be the first famine in the world caused by climate change.
Since May, the country has been going through a dry season, as it does every year. But for several years now, this period has been transformed into a form of drought that is becoming increasingly severe, dramatically affecting agricultural crops and therefore the food resources of local populations. The Malagasy call this phenomenon kere. Poverty and malnutrition are spreading throughout the country, as people try to feed themselves as best they can.
On the situation in Madagascar, Alice Rahmoun, a WFP communications manager based in the capital city of Antananarivo, said : “In some areas, people are still able to plant something, but it is not easy at all. So they are trying to grow sweet potatoes. But in other areas, absolutely nothing is growing right now. People are surviving only eating locusts, fruit and cactus leaves. And cactus leaves are usually used for cattle ; they are not for human consumption.”
Witnessing people’s difficult daily life, the Madagascar-based photographer Rijasolo criss-crossed the villages of the south in August and September 2021, for Agence France Presse (AFP). Here, Equal Times republishes some of his pictures.
Jonarson Revoria, 73 ans, et sa femme Maho, 60 ans, vivent avec leur fille Miza Angeline Rasoanandrasana, 48 ans, dans le village de Ankilidoga, à proximité de la commune de Sampona.
Jonarson Revoria usually grows peanuts, cassava, sweet potatoes or corn. But this year he could not produce anything because of the drought. He has a small basin dug in the ground to collect rainwater, but it has not been filled since July 2021. Today his wife and daughter prepare anamafaitsy leaves for lunch, a kind of weed that they boil with a lot of salt to remove the bitterness. They have no rice to accompany this meal.
Devant leur modeste maison, près du village de Fenaivo, sur la commune de Ifotaka, Madame Behora, 80 ans, pose au côté de sa fille Ndakope, 67 ans, le 30 août 2021.
On a small plot of land next to their home totalling no more than two square metres, the two women still manage to grow some onions and tomatoes, despite the lack of rain.
Dans une gamelle, Madame Behora prepare le peu de nourriture qu’elle a pu trouver pour son déjeuner.
For lunch, she managed to find a half-cup of beans for her and her daughter to share, but the beans are already spoilt.
Sur la route nationale 13 (RN 13), un troupeau de zébus chemine emmené par des enfants, près de Amboasary Atsimo, le 31 août 2021.
The RN13 links the city of Fort-Dauphin on the south-east coast and the city of Toliara on the south-west coast. In southern Madagascar, the national roads are mostly very bad and this is a real obstacle to the economic development of the region.
Dans le village d’Ankilidoga, sur la commune de Sampona, un enfant pose devant un réservoir d’eau à sec.
The water tank was built free of charge to collect rainwater, but villagers can’t remember when this tank was last filled.
Scène de la vie quotidienne sur un marché de légumes dans une rue d’Amboasary Atsimo. Le prix d’une tasse de riz (importé) se situe actuellement entre 750 et 1.000 ariary (19 et 26 centimes de dollars) et peut même monter jusqu’à 2.000 ariary (52 centimes USD) dans les zones les plus reculées.
It is very difficult to find meat. Zebu meat is very rarely sold and is very expensive (almost 40,000 Ariary per kilo/US$10) because the zebu is rather reserved for exceptional events such as funerals and weddings. Chicken or goat meat is most commonly found on the market stalls of this region of Madagascar.
Fitamantsoa est le père de Satinompeo, une petite fille de 5 ans qui ne pèse que 11 kg et présente des signes de malnutrition sévère. Il l’accompagne pour une consultation en urgence avec le Dr Lina Soatineza, médecin de la clinique mobile de Médecins sans frontières (MSF), dans le village de Befeno, sur la commune de Marovato.
Since March 2021, MSF has set up a permanent presence in southern Madagascar, in Amboasary Atsimo and Ambovombe, in order to urgently help the local population. Since June 2021, MSF has also set up several mobile clinics to help treat the most serious cases of moderate and severe malnutrition.
