UN's WFP chief says drought-affected Madagascar 'wake up call' to rest of the world

The executive director of the United Nations(UN)'s food aid organisation stated on Tuesday that the island country of Madagascar which is severely affected by drought is a "wake up call" for the world to understand what might be coming in the next years as a result of climate change. During an interview with The Associated Press, David Beasley, the executive director of the World Food Program, said that the scenario which is evident in the south of Indian Ocean nation is "the beginning of what we can expect" as the consequences of global warming that has grown more prominent. 

After his recent visit to the island nation, Beasley remarked, “Madagascar was heartbreaking,” he further added that they are simply desperate in which people are selling their home pots and pans in order to buy food. As per Beasley, 38 million individuals were displaced globally due to climate change last year, making them more vulnerable to starvation. By the year 2050, the world might see a worst-case scenario with over 216 million people uprooted as a result of climate change, he added. 

People of Madagascar are on the verge of famine due to climate crisis

A revised WFP data which is released on Tuesday stated that nearly 30,000 people residing in Madagascar would be on the verge of famine by the end of the year. While, in the meantime, 1.1 million people are already suffering from extreme hunger. Extremely hot weather, drought, and sandstorms are wreaking havoc on the island. 

WFP further stated that people have started eating cactus leaves, which are generally used as cow fodder, as the crops have withered, and harvests are in short supply in the nation. David Beasley further pointed out that Madagascar, with a population of 27 million people, contributes only a tiny proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions and rhetorically commented, “What did they do to contribute to climate change? ″ 

Further, The World Food Program has already been distributing food and additional nutritional supplements for pregnant and nursing women, as well as children, to around 700,000 people on the island. Beasley, who took charge of the World Food Program in the year 2017, stated that Man-made conflict was the main cause for people on the verge of famine.  

As in Ethiopia, the people of the nation are facing famine which has basically been caused by conflict, AP reported. According to the World Food Program, 5.2 million people in Tigray, Ethiopia's troubled northern province, require emergency food assistance. Over 400,000 people might risk famine and death if humanitarian help isn't provided swiftly, according to UN authorities, yet just a fraction of that relief reaches those who are in severe need of food.  

(Image: AP)