VOLATILE CLIMATE, POLITICS LEAVE ACCESS TO FOOD PRECARIOUS IN MADAGASCAR – UN

Access to food for the people of Madagascar remains unreliable because of the impact of natural disasters, which routinely strike the island State, and continuing political tensions, a United Nations report warned today.

The joint Food and Agricultural Organization (<"http://www.fao.org/">FAO) and World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/">WFP) mission tasked with assessing crop and food security in Madagascar underscored the effect a run of cyclones on the east coast in 2008-2009 and several years of drought in the south has had on the country's crops.

In addition, the political crisis – involving the resignation of President Marc Ravalomanana in early March, amid a dispute with the mayor of the capital, Antananarivo, Andry Rajoelina, who now leads the country – combined with the global economic recession has had repercussions for public finances, exports, tourism, unemployment and the national currency, and a knock-on effect on the agricultural sector, according to the FAO-WFP report.

The report noted that food production varies widely across the Indian Ocean nation with good rainfall benefiting the 2008-2009 harvest in the centre, north and west of the country, as well as favouring rice-growing areas with an estimated 8 per cent increase in paddy production to over 4 million tons of rice.

However, the drought devastated the south, home to some of the country's poorest communities, has caused national maize, sweet potato and cassava production to slump.

The production of maize in the province of Taliara in the south, which contributes 30 per cent of the national total, is expected to halve next year, and its sweet potato harvest, around 20 per cent of the national total, will slump by around 20 per cent, according to the report. In addition, cassava production in the area will fall by 15 per cent.

The report stressed that the amount of cereal required by the country, including cassava and sweet potato, will exceed total cereals availability by about 206,000 tons. Although commercial wheat and rice imports would normally cover the shortfall, a Government announcement of its intention to import 150,000 tons of rice to be sold at moderate prices could unsettle free-market trade.

Commercial interests are likely to "wait-and-see" how market prices react to Government imports, which could lead to delays or breakdowns in stocks, causing a price explosion during the lean season – beginning in September-October – reminiscent of the timing of events that led to the 2004-2005 food crisis.

UN AND PARTNERS SEEK $36 MILLION TO AID MADAGASCAR AMID MULTIPLE CRISES

Six United Nations agencies and three non-governmental partners in Madagascar today appealed for $35.7 million to help prevent a deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country, which has been hit this year by drought, cyclones and political unrest.

Some 2.5 million people living mainly in Madagascar's main cities and an additional 880,000 living in the drought-affected south now need humanitarian assistance, as a result of the multiple crises of recent months, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

With the majority of the population living under $1 a day, rising food prices and limited incomes have curtailed the ability of most households to have access to food, water and sanitation services, health and education.

OCHA added that the political crisis over the past three months has worsened the already precarious situation of large segments of the Malagasy population through disruptions in basic social services and a climate of fear and uncertainty.

It has also caused delays or a cessation of services to a number of aid and development projects across the Indian Ocean island nation.

Political tensions and unrest in the country culminated with the resignation of President Marc Ravalomanana in early March, amid a dispute with the mayor of the capital, Antananarivo, Andry Rajoelina, who now leads the country.

The UN has repeatedly stressed that inclusive talks are the only means to bring about a smooth transition and a non-violent resolution to the crisis. The world body has been trying to assist the country through the efforts of Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Haile Menkerios and UN Senior Adviser Tiébilé Dramé.

Speaking to reporters after briefing a closed-door session of the Security Council today, Mr. Menkerios called the current situation in Madagascar "untenable" and urged the parties to engage in dialogue on the way forward.

"The Council members expressed serious concern about the unconstitutional means of taking power by the former Mayor, and urged that there be a quick return to a constitutional order through a transitional process that is based on consensus reached through wide participation of all stakeholders in Madagascar," he stated.

"A return to constitutional order can only come by organizing quick elections where the people of Madagascar will decide," stressed Mr. Menkerios.
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