The people of Madagascar have been struggling with drought for the last four years. The drought has left tens of thousands of Madagascans experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger and food insecurity. While the situation is grave, there has been very little media coverage of this crisis in North America.

Peter Oussoren, a teacher at King’s Christian Collegiate, a high school in Oakville, Ontario, first heard about the struggles of Malagasy in an episode of Al Jazeera’s Start Here programme. When Peter shared what was happening in Madagascar with his grade 9 students, they were excited to launch a fundraiser.

Peter‘s students’ goal was to raise $1,000 CND to donate to Canadian Foodgrains Bank’s drought response efforts in southern Madagascar. Peter, who shared the story of their efforts with Al Jazeera, said: “Students were willing to give and they wanted to meet their goal.” Eventually, Peter’s students were joined by other grade 9 classes and together raised $2,500.

World Renew, a founding member of Canadian Foodgrains Bank, is grateful to Peter and his students for extending God’s love to the people of Madagascar.

But sadly, drought is not the only crisis the people of Madagascar are facing.

On January 22, Cyclone Ana made landfall in northern Madagascar with strong winds and rains that destroyed homes, washed away roads and left a trail of destruction. On February 5, Cyclone Batsira pummelled the region with heavy rains and winds reaching speeds of 235km/hour that left an estimated 270,900 people displaced and in need of immediate food assistance.

Ten days later, Tropical Storm Dumako hit the north-east coast leaving almost 3,000 people displaced. And, another storm, Emnati, is looming.

While providing people in crisis with emergency food is crucial to their survival, long-term solutions are needed in Madagascar, where a long history of natural disasters has taken a toll on the economy. Poor infrastructure, a low education rate, and heavy dependence on rain-fed agriculture are also contributing to chronic food insecurity, with 75 percent of the population struggling with poverty–living on less than $2.00/day.

In 2021 World Renew with Canadian Foodgrains Bank received support from Global Affairs Canada to respond to both short-term and long-term food security needs simultaneously. In January 2022, World Renew’s partner in Madagascar, SAF-FJKM launched the Humanitarian and Early Recovery and Development (HERD) program. Through this four-year program World Renew is working to address both the emergency needs and development needs of 1,500 vulnerable households.

Through the HERD program households will be provided with emergency cash and rice to meet families’ immediate food needs for six months. Alongside this emergency response, households will be offered opportunities geared to sustainable development of their communities, including: support for farming activities with a focus on conservation agriculture practices, like growing drought-tolerant crops; support to initiate new non-agriculture livelihoods; and support to establish savings and loans groups.

Please pray for the people of Madagascar: that those who are displaced in the north will find shelter; that more hearts will open, like Peter and his students’ did, to extend God’s love to people struggling with food insecurity in the south. And, pray for guidance for World Renew and partners as they work to share God’s hope with families in Madagascar.

You can help Madagascar and other countries facing hunger by giving to our Canadian Foodgrains Bank programs, like HERD.