Madagascar's food crisis is risking children's lives, aid group warns

Madagascar's worst drought in 40 years is endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the island nation off Africa's east coast - and children are particularly at risk, an aid organization warned on Monday.

One in six children in the afflicted island's south are suffering from acute malnutrition and on the brink of starvation, according to Save the Children, a figure it said soon threatens to rise to one in four children.

Yet the disaster is unfolding in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic and receiving little international attention, said the aid group, which issued an urgent appeal for donations.

"This is a forgotten and very underfunded crisis, and it's hitting children hardest - not only are they missing the nutrients to develop properly, they are missing school due to hunger and the inability of their parents to pay for school fees," said Save the Children regional director Yvonne Arunga.

"We are seeing many hungry, dead-eyed young children, scrounging for a scrap to eat. How can the world look away?"

In a recent report, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) classified the situation in southern Madagascar as a "highest alert" hotspot.

Of the 1.1 million people dealing with acute food shortages, 28,000 face starvation by the end of the year, it said. The WFP said the crisis has been sparked by years of drought, sandstorms that have parched farm fields, pests affecting staple crops and rising food prices.

Madagascar has about 28 million inhabitants and is slightly larger than France.

Kaynak: DPA