DISCLAIMER: Please note that this IPC Acute Food Insecurity analysis was integrated with an IPC Acute Malnutrition analysis.
Overview:
During the current period (October to December 2020), 1.06 million people (27% of the analysed population) are estimated to be facing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above), including 204,000 people in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and 859,000 in Crisis (IPC Phase 3). During the projected period (January to April 2021), the situation is expected to deteriorate with 1.35 million people likely facing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above). That includes 282,000 people expected to be in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and 1.067 million in Crisis (IPC Phase 3). Additionally, 135,476 children are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition in the ten analysed districts, including 27,137 severe cases based on the three forms of acute malnutrition from SMART surveys.
Key Drivers:
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the long drought during the 2019-2020 crop year, seriously affected the availability and access to food in all the areas analysed. The major contributing factors to the deterioration of the nutritional situation include: inadequate food intake with rates between 1.2 and 2.2%, and low minimum diet with rates between 0 and 2%. Poor access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities also contributes to increasing levels of acute malnutrition. The mortality rate for Amboasary Atsimo and Ambovombe has reached emergency stages and is one of the factors exacerbating malnutrition in these districts.
Response Priorities:
A multi-sectoral intervention for the entire population classified in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) must be implemented to save lives and livelihoods. This population will not be able to withstand any possible additional shocks during the peak of the lean season.
Multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance is required for the 1.35 million people facing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) in the Grand South and the Grand South East. These very vulnerable households will need support to facilitate their access to food, and also to protect their livelihoods. Due to the rainfall forecasts, which range from normal-to-above-normal for the months of January to March, support in terms of agricultural inputs (seeds suitable for short cycles, and phytosanitary products) will be necessary, especially for poor and very poor households. Interventions would be more effective by strengthening coordination initiatives via better communication between humanitarian and development actors.
In order to face the problem of persistent drought in Madagascar, the following initiatives should be followed:
(i) early warning interventions to mitigate the impacts of drought, including alert warning systems;
(ii) implementing larger scale resilience strategies for the agricultural sector, based on the existing strategy, while providing the appropriate support to respond to the local context.
Priority actions will have to be implemented in the short and medium terms, while others could be phased in over the long term. These include:
(1) understanding the risks of drought and anticipating its repercussions;
(2) strengthening operational capacities as well as drought risk preparedness for effective and timely response;
(3) strengthening the existing inter-sectoral collaboration and partnerships for mobilizing resources necessary to meet the various needs.
Nutrition interventions can be broken down into two stages:
In the short term:
• Strengthen actions aimed at improving the coverage and quality of nutritional care for children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) in order to care for the 135,000 children in need of immediate treatment;
• Support food diversification programs for children already affected by acute malnutrition, including strengthening household food security;
• Strengthen and / or identify actions to improve drinking water supplies and improve sanitation coverage for vulnerable populations and in health facilities.
In the medium and long term:
• Strengthen actions for the early identification of acute malnutrition and diseases, such as diarrhea, malaria / fevers and respiratory infections, at the community level, and strengthen treatment;
• Strengthen the mechanisms for promoting good Infant and Young Child Feeding practices;
• Support economic development programs with rapid and lasting impacts on the financial situation of households.