Madagascar faces ‘catastrophic’ hunger after 3 cyclones

By SARAH TETAUD
Associated Press

MANANJARY, Madagascar (AP) — Humanitarian groups say children in remote areas of southeast Madagascar are experiencing “catastrophic” levels of hunger after three cyclones battered the region in the space of a year. UNICEF and Madagascar’s National Office for Nutrition have reported that the combined impact of Cyclones Batsirai, Emnati and Freddy left 60%-90% of farming areas in the southeast badly damaged and food crops largely destroyed. A team from humanitarian organization Doctors of the World last month found a group of parents and their children walking through the bush to try to reach the nearest health center. The aid workers brought a 10-month-old girl suffering from acute malnutrition and two badly malnourished children under age 2 to a hospital.