Nearly 850,000 people in Madagascar face "alarming" hunger levels
ROME - Nearly 850,000 people in drought-hit southern Madagascar are experiencing "alarming" levels of hunger, and more aid is needed to prevent a dire situation from becoming a "catastrophe", UN agencies said on Thursday.
This is the latest warning by the agencies who have been scaling up their response to a crisis affecting more than half the population in the south of the island nation.
Some 20 percent of households in the affected areas are now experiencing emergency levels of hunger, according to the latest food survey. "Emergency" is phase four of a five-point scale used by food agencies, where five is famine.
"What I saw in the south of Madagascar earlier this month alarmed me," said Chris Nikoi, regional director of the World Food Programme.
