Food Assistance Fact Sheet - Madagascar

April 4, 2013

Food Security Situation

DCHA/FFP

• Natural disasters such as cyclones, droughts, and floods pose the greatest threat to Madagascar’s food security. Over the past 35 years, more than 50 natural disasters have struck, affecting more than 11 million people. Most recently, an estimated 259,000 people were affected by Cyclone Giovanna.  Poor health and nutrition practices, low education levels, and locust infestations also threaten the country’s food security.

• Madagascar is an underdeveloped, low-income, and food-deficit country with extreme poverty; over 50 percent of the children are stunted. The country has dropped to 151 out of 187 countries in the 2011 UN Development Program (UNDP) Human Development Index.

• Food production is very low with pervasive food insecurity in the South and Southeast due to frequent cyclones, flooding and droughts. Food insecurity is traditionally most pronounced from October to March.
   

Food Assistance Programs

• The Office of Food for Peace (FFP) now targets approximately 492,500 food-insecure individuals in 98,500 households in more than 500 communities primarily in cyclone-affected, drought-stricken and isolated areas of south and southeastern Madagascar.

• FFP partners with a Catholic Relief Services-led consortium on a variety of activities including agricultural livelihoods, natural resource management, maternal, child health and nutrition, and disaster preparation and mitigation.

Food for Peace Contributions

Total Contributions:

Fiscal Year 2013 Contribution Breakdown:

Note: EFSP: Emergency Food Security Program; FY: Fiscal Year; MT: Metric Ton; UNDP: United Nations Development Program; USD: U.S. Dollar; WFP: World Food Program
Food Security Situation information proved by UNDP as of April 2013

Country Specific Guidance

• Madagascar Country Specific Guidance