Even in good years, hunger is rife in Madagascar. More than 90 percent of its population lives below the poverty line, and nearly half of the country’s children are chronically malnourished or stunted.

But three consecutive years of severe drought, widespread crop failure and water shortages have driven Madagascar to the brink of utter “catastrophe,” United Nations agencies said last week. 

I met women who told me they had nothing to feed their babies except the fruit of the red cactus growing by the roadside.  –  Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the UN’s World Food Programme.

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.

Image: Vice News.