Africa Development Bank: Approves Funds to Combat Adverse Effects of Drought in Madagascar

By Richard Adorsu-

NEW AFRICA DAILY NEWS (NADN) Accra, Ghana- The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved an emergency aid of $686,000 to Madagascar intended to cope with the combined effects of the drought and the Covid-19 pandemic in the far south of the island.

This aid should be used for food assistance, vital for the most vulnerable groups and support for the prevention of acute malnutrition. It is thus planned to acquire and distribute 510.52 tonnes of rice, 195 tonnes of legumes, 78.40 tonnes of vegetable oils, 34 tonnes of super cereals and 14.24 tonnes of LNS-MQ. (nutritional supplement). Food assistance targets some 72,222 beneficiaries, or 14,444 households in total. Each beneficiary will receive a ration for 15 days, for three months.

As for the support for the prevention of acute malnutrition, it targets children aged six to twenty three months and pregnant and breastfeeding women with a child under six months through a nutritional supplementation program. This support will concern 2,630 small children from six to twenty-three months old and 3,611 pregnant and breastfeeding women.

The aim of the operation is to help alleviate the suffering of populations in southern Madagascar, victims of the adverse effects of the 2019-2020 drought and the coronavirus health crisis. The specific objective is to reduce acute food insecurity in the communes of intervention and to reduce the malnutrition which strikes the vulnerable layers of the Malagasy population.

For New Africa Daily News Richard Adorsu Reports,  Africa Correspondent

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