By Danielle Lisnek | Senior Programme Officer
Madagascar is facing a humanitarian crisis, accelerated by the economic consequences of COVID-19 and the most severe drought in the last 40 years. Having repercussions on the agricultural sector, a primary source of income and food for many, these factors have led to the decline of food security in the south. Malnutrition, which is life-threatening, has become a serious public health concern, especially amongst children. SEED has responded to this crisis through the implementation of a food distribution programme, covering 41 villages in the south. Our programme distributes ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) and unprepared food to those most in need: children suffering from moderately acute malnutrition (MAM) or severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and their families.
One of the children who receives food from SEED is six-month-old Valisoa, who is among the 138 children in the region diagnosed with SAM. Sadly, her father died just after she was born and her mother, Narovana, is single-handedly raising Valisoa and her six siblings. Narovana is a farmer and her family has been left vulnerable to the challenges caused by COVID-19 and the drought. In March, SEED-trained community health workers advised Narovana to take Valisoa to a local community health centre for a health check, where she was subsequently diagnosed with SAM. With SEED’s intervention, Valisoa now receives RUTF from her local community health centre and her family receives rice, beans, and oil each month while she undergoes treatment. Narovana has one less worry knowing that she can provide nutritious food for her family during such a challenging time.
SEED will continue to distribute RUTF and food parcels to children and families like Valisoa’s for as long as funding permits. Unfortunately, the situation in the south continues to worsen, with cases of malnutrition rising and more families left vulnerable to food insecurity.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
