The Entire Nation Of Madagascar Is On The Brink Of Extinction Due To Hunger! [SEE]

Three consecutive years of severe drought, widespread crop failure and water shortages have driven Madagascar to the brink of utter “catastrophe,” United Nations agencies stated.

More than half of the population in southern Madagascar, or around 850,000 people, are now experiencing “alarming” levels of hunger, according to the agencies. At least 20 percent of households in the region are on the verge of famine.

The Entire Nation Of Madagascar Is On The Brink Of Extinction Due To Hunger! [SEE] — TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY TSIRESENA MANJAKAHERY
This picture taken on March 4, 2015 shows a woman checking the weight of her baby at the health center of the village of Imongy, in the Tsihombe district of southern Madagascar. The World Food Program, whose food distribution currently allows 120,000 people to survive, is asking for international aid as an exceptional drought from October 2014 through February 2015 destroyed crops in the region. AFP PHOTO / RIJASOLO (Photo credit should read RIJASOLO/AFP/Getty Images)

“These are people living on the very brink,” Chris Nikoi, regional director of the U.N.’s World Food Programme, said Thursday in a statement. “Many have nothing but wild fruits to eat. We must act together now to save lives.”

The stories out of southern Madagascar are bleak: Children are being pulled out of school to look for food and water; 1 in 3 families has turned to “desperate measures” like begging and selling land to survive; and 4 in 10 households have eaten their vital seed stocks in desperation, leaving nothing for the upcoming planting season.

“I have never experienced this kind of hunger,” Rasoanandeasana Emillienne, a local farmer with four children, told the news outlet in June. “We are taking one day at a time because who knows what will happen if the rains do not return.”