Famine is looming in southern Madagascar, where children are “starving” after drought and sandstorms ruined harvests, the U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
Amer Daoudi, senior director of WFP operations globally, speaking from Antananarivo, Madagascar, said he had visited villages where people had resorted to eating locusts and leaves.
“I witnessed horrific images of starving children, malnourished, and not only the children – mothers, parents and the populations in villages we visited,” Daoudi told a United Nations briefing in Geneva.
“They are on the periphery of famine, these are images I haven’t seen for quite some time across the globe,” he said.
Malnutrition has almost doubled to 16% from 9% in March 2020 following five consecutive years of drought, exacerbated this year by sandstorms and late rains, he said.
WFP is seeking $75 million to cover emergency needs in the next few months, he added.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Convenience retail is becoming an increasingly data-driven business, with operators balancing tight margins, shifting consumer…
As enterprises have moved more workloads into virtualised environments, the hypervisor has become a critical…
Rally Saudi Arabia will not form part of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship due…
Outdoor footwear is increasingly expected to do more than perform on a trail. Consumers move…
The non-alcoholic beverage market is beginning to move beyond the simple promise of drinking less.…
For clean-energy technology companies, sustainability reporting is increasingly moving beyond a compliance exercise. Investors, customers…