Workers in the field
Workers in the field

Hunger and Agriculture

In Madagascar, a significant portion of the population experiences hunger and food insecurity. Data indicates that a large percentage, around 33% or 8.8 million people, face food insecurity, with even higher percentages in specific regions. Malnutrition, both acute and chronic, also poses a serious problem, particularly affecting children.

Key Statistics

  • Food Insecurity: As of September 2022, 8.8 million people (about 33% of the population) were food insecure, with 2.22 million in the Grand Sud and Grand Sud-Est facing emergency levels.
  • Acute Malnutrition: The prevalence of acute malnutrition is reported at 8%, while chronic malnutrition affects nearly 40% of children.
  • Global Hunger Index: Madagascar ranks 124th out of 125 countries with a score of 41.0, indicating an “alarming” level of hunger, according to the Global Hunger Index.
  • Acute Food Insecurity: Up to 1.31 million people in the south of Madagascar face high levels of acute food insecurity, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), says the UN World Food Programme.
  • Children Affected: Nearly 459,000 children under five are facing or expected to face elevated levels of acute malnutrition in the Grand Sud and Grand Sud-Est, notes the IPC.
  • Poverty: Over 75% of the population lives below the international poverty line.
  • Malnutrition in Children: The admission rate for children with severe acute malnutrition has increased significantly, from 9% in 2021 to 36% in 2023. (Information provided by Google AI)

In this context, Friends of Madagascar Development has two goals:

Countryside homes and fields

Goal 1 – Hunger – Feed starving people

Providing financial support for providing $1.00 a day to feed one person a nutritious meal. This is a stop gap measure and can become very expensive. It also does not teach the people to become self-sustaining in providing their food (One of FOMD’s Pillars).

Ways to help include:

  • $1 per day will feed 1 person for a day.
  • $30 per month will feed 1 person for a month.
  • $360 per year will feed 1 person for a year.
  • Gifts of any size will support this program!
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Goal 2 – Agriculture – Self-sustaining programs

Our goal is to provide financial and management resources that will develop self-sustaining programs. The goal is to fund programs that will teach people to grow food crops that provide families and institutions with an adequate and nutritious food supply in season of adequate rain or in seasons of drought. This means:

  • changing the cultural traditions of growing food,
  • providing the water resources in all seasons,
  • maintaining seed banks to keep seeds for the next growing season, and
  • learning modern ways of increasing the good production.

How can you help?

  • $2 will purchase a Moringa tree seedling.
  • $100 will train a local person at our agricultural training center.
  • $250 will help build a Seed Bank in a village.
  • Gifts of any size will support any of these programs!
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Friends of Madagascar Development
HUNGER AND AGRICULTURAL FUNDING PROGRAMS

The goal of Friends of Madagascar Development is to raise funds to hire agricultural specialists to teach, do field research, and encourage the goals of this program to improve the food resources in the southwest region of Madagascar. 100% of your gift will go to the program. Nothing will be taken out of your gift for Friends of Madagascar Development administration.