Press release
Ireland to provide €500,000 in response to extreme food shortages in Madagascar
From Department of Foreign Affairs
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Foreign Affairs
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for International Development and Diaspora Colm Brophy TD has announced that Ireland will provide €500,000 to the World Food Programme to provide life-saving food for people in Madagascar, where over 1.1 million people face severe food shortages.
Making the announcement today in response to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the country, Minister Brophy said:
"Families in Madagascar are on the brink of starvation. Over 14,000 people are already experiencing famine conditions and that number is expected to double over the coming weeks. In some areas of the country, almost one in three children are malnourished. Malnutrition rates among children under the age of five have doubled since April.
"The World Food Programme has described this as ‘an invisible crisis’. The world is focused on the COVID-19 pandemic but we must not allow millions of people around the world to slip into a hunger pandemic. The next few weeks are critical to avoid an unimaginable humanitarian catastrophe in Madagascar.
"Ireland’s support will deliver food to people who urgently need it. We will particularly focus our efforts on children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.
"This crisis in Madagascar is yet another reminder to the world about the terrible damage being inflicted by climate change. Madagascar has experienced three consecutive years of drought. Farmers who rely on the rain to grow crops simply cannot provide for their families under these conditions."