Malagasy children bear brunt of severe drought

by Miriam Gathigah

Nearly half the children in drought-stricken South Madagascar are malnourished. Photo: ©Miriam Gathigah/IPS
Nearly half the children in drought-stricken South Madagascar are malnourished. Photo: ©Miriam Gathigah/IPS

Voahevetse Fotetse can easily pass for a three-year-old even though he is six and a pupil at Ankilimafaitsy Primary School in Ambovombe district, Androy region, one of the most severely affected by the ongoing drought in the South of Madagascar. “Fotetse is just like many of the pupils here who, due to chronic malnutrition, are much too small for their age, they are too short and too thin,” explains Seraphine Sasara, the school’s director.

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