Madagascar: Working Together to Fight Famine
Madagascar: Working Together to Fight Famine
In the community of Sarehangy in Madagascar, villagers can remember a time when hunger didn’t exist. “It was a forest and now there’s nothing,” explains Didier, the village chief.
Because of its prosperity and abundance of cattle, the village was called “Sarehangy,” which means “jewel” in the local dialect. But due to chronic drought, villagers began to move away, and cattle numbers dwindled. The once extensive woodlands, filled with a variety of wildlife as recently as 25 years ago, have become a desert where only cactus can grow.
“This used to be a forest,” remembers Didier, “but now even the turtles have disappeared.” Turtles are considered sacred in some Malagasy traditions, so according to some locals, their absence means that taboos may have been broken out of desperation for a meal.
“Before, even if there was drought, we could still eat fruit from the forest, but now there’s nothing to eat,” Didier shares. “We’re hungry. We’re thirsty.” The cisterns families use to collect rainwater are now dry long before the height of the drought season.
“We have to buy water from the village,” says Didier. Buying a single jerry can of water costs nearly $1 USD. To earn that money, people often spend an entire day walking to a distant forest and collecting firewood to sell at the market. The vicious cycle of further depleting local forests only intensifies the drought, but for many residents, there are no other options.
To help address families’ immediate needs, World Renew and Canadian Foodgrains Bank are working with SAF, the humanitarian arm of Madagascar’s Reformed church, to distribute much-needed food relief to households in the region.
In the longer-term, World Renew is facilitating Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) where groups within the community participate in saving, lending, and sharing funds. This will help families generate income by giving them access to markets to buy and sell essential items, and to improve their future by starting small business enterprises.
World Renew is also helping to implement another key sustainability measure—re-planting the community’s once-thriving forests. Together, World Renew, our local partners, and community groups are starting drought-resistant tree seedlings, so community members can replant and re-grow what was lost.
Didier happily welcomes this news, as he says, “We want to plant trees to rebuild the forest that was here.”
In the community of Sarehangy in Madagascar, villagers can remember a time when hunger didn’t exist. “It was a forest and now there’s nothing,” explains Didier, the village chief.
Because of its prosperity and abundance of cattle, the village was called “Sarehangy,” which means “jewel” in the local dialect. But due to chronic drought, villagers began to move away, and cattle numbers dwindled. The once extensive woodlands, filled with a variety of wildlife as recently as 25 years ago, have become a desert where only cactus can grow.
“This used to be a forest,” remembers Didier, “but now even the turtles have disappeared.” Turtles are considered sacred in some Malagasy traditions, so according to some locals, their absence means that taboos may have been broken out of desperation for a meal.
“Before, even if there was drought, we could still eat fruit from the forest, but now there’s nothing to eat,” Didier shares. “We’re hungry. We’re thirsty.” The cisterns families use to collect rainwater are now dry long before the height of the drought season.
“We have to buy water from the village,” says Didier. Buying a single jerry can of water costs nearly $1 USD. To earn that money, people often spend an entire day walking to a distant forest and collecting firewood to sell at the market. The vicious cycle of further depleting local forests only intensifies the drought, but for many residents, there are no other options.
To help address families’ immediate needs, World Renew and Canadian Foodgrains Bank are working with SAF, the humanitarian arm of Madagascar’s Reformed church, to distribute much-needed food relief to households in the region.
In the longer-term, World Renew is facilitating Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) where groups within the community participate in saving, lending, and sharing funds. This will help families generate income by giving them access to markets to buy and sell essential items, and to improve their future by starting small business enterprises.
World Renew is also helping to implement another key sustainability measure—re-planting the community’s once-thriving forests. Together, World Renew, our local partners, and community groups are starting drought-resistant tree seedlings, so community members can replant and re-grow what was lost.
Didier happily welcomes this news, as he says, “We want to plant trees to rebuild the forest that was here.”
