The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
In Madagascar, pockets of famine and children at risk of dying, warns WFP
“Pockets of famine” have been declared in Southern Madagascar, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday, after warning that the country’s most vulnerable people are the victims of what is likely the world’s first climate change-induced famine.
“We have some pockets of IPC 5 or famine-like conditions, this is basically the only, maybe the first climate change famine on earth,” said Arduino Mangoni, WFP Deputy Country Director in Madagascar, citing IPC food insecurity assessments, which are used to gauge the level of emergency aid required.
“The most intense drought in 40 years has hit this specific region in 2021,” Mr. Mangoni continued. “The elderly people who we assist in the south, they keep telling us that this is the most severe phenomenon – the ‘Kéré’, they call it - since 1981.”
In total, some 1.3 million Malagasi have been classified IPC 3, 4 and 5, according to the last available data from April. Updated IPC projections will be released at the end of the year.
“The people in IPC 3 and above – around 1.3 million as we speak today - it’s higher than people in IPC 3 and above in 2016 during the El Niño driven crisis,” the WFP official continued, noting that there was in fact little difference between categories three to five.
“If we look at the projections for the months ahead, the situation is very alarming; so let’s start with the food security part; IPC 3, 4 and 5 trends since last year have gone up, so if we only look at IPC 4, around 200,000 people (were) in IPC 4 last trimester, last quarter of last year; we have around half a million now, with a projection of people in IPC 5 as well (of) around 30,000 between now and the end of the year, when the new IPC results will be available.”
In contrast to the world’s other IPC 5 famines - in Yemen, South Sudan and Ethiopia/Tigray – which are conflict-driven, the Madagascar crisis is likely a result of devastating climate factors, the WFP official noted.
“We have some acute phenomena, like the intensity of drought …back-to-back droughts in the last five years, a new phenomenon of sandstorms probably caused by soil erosion, deforestation for the last 20 to 30 years and then of course the consequences, the impact of COVID.”
Because of the pandemic’s impact on tourism and supply chains, villagers who had sought work in towns during lean times no longer had this option, Mr. Mangoni said.
People have also exhausted their usual coping techniques - such as selling their kitchen utensils – a last resort. “We have high prices, inflation is staggering, especially for food prices, including water,” he added. “And then we also have insecurity, there is a new, again a new phenomenon of “dahalo” - bandits ravaging the area.”
According to WFP, around 500,000 under-fives are believed to be malnourished; 110,000 of them are expected to be severely malnourished between now and April 2022.
“These are the children who are at risk of dying if not supported,” Mr. Mangoni said, adding that gauging the impact of famine in very young infants is complicated as their deaths are often not recorded in those under six months.
To help those in most need, WFP has already scaled up ration and nutrition programmes; it also plans to reach more than one million people in IPC3 to 5 from in December – the peak of the lean season - “until the next good harvest”, which it is hoped will come in April 2022.
To provide this emergency aid for the next six months, the agency has appealed for $69 million.
- ends-
STORY: WFP – Madagascar Hunger Crisis
TRT: 3’02’’
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 02 Nov 2021, GENEVA, Switzerland
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot, United Nations flags flying.
- Medium-wide shot, inside the press conference room (B-128), showing speakers and participants.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Arduino Mangoni, Deputy Country Director of Madagascar, World Food Programme (WFP): “The most intense drought in 40 years has hit this specific region in 2021. The elderly people who we assist in the south, they keep telling us that this is the most severe phenomenon – the “Kéré” - they call it (the drought) since 1981.”
- Medium shot, participants listening to the press briefing and moderator Alessandra Vellucci speaking, TV showing the external participants.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Arduino Mangoni, Deputy Country Director of Madagascar, World Food Programme (WFP): “If we look at the projections for the months ahead, the situation is very alarming; so let’s start with the food security part; IPC 3, 4 and 5 trends since last year have gone up, so if we only look at IPC4, around 200,000 people in IPC 4 last trimester, last quarter of last year, we have around half a million now, with a projection of people in IPC 5 as well around 30,000 between now and the end of the year when the new IPC results will be available.”
- Medium shot, journalists seated and masked taking notes, camera showing the technician from behind.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Arduino Mangoni, Deputy Country Director of Madagascar, World Food Programme (WFP): “We have pockets of famine, and in general the people in IPC 3 and above – around 1.3 million as we speak today- it’s higher than people in IPC 3 and above in 2016 during the El Niño driven crisis.”
- Medium shot, journalists seated and masked, large-screen TV showing the speakers to rear.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Arduino Mangoni, Deputy Country Director of Madagascar, World Food Programme (WFP): “We have some acute phenomena, like the intensity of drought as I mentioned, back-to-back droughts in the last five years, a new phenomenon of sandstorms probably caused by soil erosion, deforestation for the last 20 to 30 years and then of course the consequences, the impact of COVID.”
- Medium shot, Participants attending the meeting in the press briefing room (B-128).
- SOUNDBITE (English): Arduino Mangoni, Deputy Country Director of Madagascar, World Food Programme (WFP): “We have high prices, inflation is staggering, especially for food prices, including water. And then we also have insecurity, there is a new, again a new phenomenon of “dahalo” - bandits ravaging the area.”
- Close shot, participants seated and masked listening to the briefing.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Arduino Mangoni, Deputy Country Director of Madagascar, World Food Programme (WFP): “We have some pockets of IPC 5 or famine-like conditions, this is basically the only, maybe the first climate change famine on earth.”
- Close-up: a technician supervising the briefing on Zoom, other participants in the background.
- Medium shot showing participants to the meeting and the press briefing broadcast on Zoom.
- Close shot of the journalists present in the room taking notes.
Similar Stories
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on the human rights situation in Haiti.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated delays in bringing lifesaving medicines, prosthetics and more from Israel into Gaza risk having devastating consequences on Palestinians who urgently need them in the wartorn enclave, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. “A truck full of non-priority supplies or the right supplies arriving too late, doesn't save lives. That's the question that actually matters," said Dr Reinhilde Van De Weerdt, WHO Representative in the OPT.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC: Early access to care and oxygen decisive for Ebola patients’ survival – WHO
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health workers fighting the country’s largest-ever Ebola outbreak are struggling to overcome critical challenges to patient care, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UN
Civilians in Iran are continuing to feel the consequences of months of conflict and military escalation, the UN’s top official in the country has said, as loss of life, damage to civilian infrastructure and mounting economic pressures leave many facing continued uncertainty.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNICEF
Aid agencies in Yemen highlighted the growing hunger emergency sparked by renewed fighting between Houthi opposition forces and Government troops, after mobile health clinics reported that hundreds of children displaced by the violence are suffering from the most deadly form of malnutrition.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Displacement on the rise in Yemen as fighting continues - UNHCR
As hostilities worsen in Yemen, more people have been fleeing their homes, further intensifying the humanitarian crisis within the region, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , OHCHR , UNFPA , UNOG , UNHCR , WHO
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis growing by the hour amid spike in displacement
Yemenis displaced by renewed fighting have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office issued on Friday a report documenting a shocking pattern of sexual violence amid Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.