Madagascar, one million victims of the first climatic famine

In the south of the island, where more than nine out of ten people live below the poverty line, a historic drought, aggravated by the global climate crisis, is wreaking havoc.

Amnesty International is sounding the alarm.
Food inflation is coming to the table around the world
The prices of agricultural raw materials are soaring.
The most fragile households, hit by the health crisis, are seeing their food budget explode. Biofuels drive up vegetable oil prices.

Wheat prices in Paris exceeded the bar of 300 euros per ton, registering a new historic record. (François HENRY/REA)

By Etienne Goetz

[ FIRST CLIMATE-INDUCED FAMANIE ! ]

There, the rain has not fallen for three years. Water has become an unobtainable commodity, livestock are dying, the land is impassable in the middle of an arid landscape. Farmers have lost their crops and can neither support themselves nor feed communities.

MOBILIZE US!

Food bills continue to rise around the world. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) staple food price index continues to rise. He is now a hair’s breadth from his historic record of February 2011 (137.6 points).

In November, the index, which represents the average consumer basket, rose by 1.2%. He now scores at 134.4 points, unheard of since June 2011.

The FAO index had reached comparable levels in 2007-2008, a period marked by major food riots in Africa.

“Food insecurity is on the increase in the world”, observes Sébastien Abis, director of the Déméter club and researcher at IRIS.

“The drop in activity linked to the pandemic has led to significant losses of income for the populations.

At the same time, food inflation has accelerated as supply chains have derailed. This double penalty hits emerging countries above all, where food can represent more than half of the household budget.