Famine is almost always associated with armed conflict. As a consequence of civil war, Yemen and Ethiopia today are facing acute food emergencies
In Madagascar there is no war, yet thousands of people in the southern part of the country are experiencing famine-like conditions. Over a million more are considered to be on the brink of famine.
The crisis in Southern Madagascar is a direct consequence of climate change
This region has experienced successive droughts — the rainy season is shorter, the lean season is longer and subsistence farmers are unable to plant their crops. This is widely considered to be the world’s first climate-change induced famine.
On the line with me to explain the link between climate change and the famine like conditions in Southern Madagascar is Mandipa Machacha, human rights researcher at Amnesty International’s Southern Africa regional office. She recently authored a report released by Amnesty about the climate-change induced food crisis in Madagascar and its impact on the human rights of people living there.
We kick off with a discussion about Madagascar more broadly and the impact of climate change on the island before having a broader conversation about the brutal intersection of climate change and famine in Southern Madagascar.
If you have 20 minutes and want to learn more about the world’s first-ever climate change induced famine, have a listen.
