Madagascar: Humanitarian Response Dashboard (January - June 2023)

SITUATION UPDATE

People affected by the consecutive tropical cyclones of 2022 and 2023 in the Grand Sud-Est of Madagascar still need humanitarian assistance. The losses in food crops were estimated between 10 and 65 per cent in 2022. The level of harvest is still low in 2023, and nearly 90 per cent of cash crops have been destroyed and will not recovered before 2024. The SMART survey carried out in May 2023 showed a precarious nutritional situation, with a prevalence of global acute malnutrition of 10.7 per cent against 8.7 per cent in 2022. Meanwhile, around 500,000 people in the region are suffering from severe food insecurity from July to September 2023, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. Post-cyclone recovery in Grand Sud-Est has been slow due to high food prices and structural challen- ges compounded by drought, cyclone damage, logistical hurdles and water-related diseases.

The situation in the Grand Sud has been stabilized thanks to a significant increase in humanitarian assistance and relatively good rainfall from January to June 2023. Yet, it remained fragile. Only 4, out of 11 districts, are in Crisis phase (IPC 3) until September, and 575,470 people severely food insecure, but a general deterioration of food security is expected from January 2024, mainly because of the expected effects of El Niño. The drought conditions have significantly improved in June 2023 compared with the two previous months due to the increase in rainfall, notably in Anosy region.
About 73 per cent of groundwater sites were at normal levels, while only 15 per cent recorded a very low level (Alarm/Emergency), according to UNICEF.

By the end of June 2023, humanitarians had assisted over 1.6 million people, including 614,300 in the Grand Sud-Est and 1 million in the Grand Sud, thanks to funding received through the humanitarian Flash Appeal which targets 1.93 million people in 2023. Nearly 1.6 million people received food and livelihoods support, including nearly 361,700 who received assistance through cash transfers. More than 99,600 people were assisted in accessing safe water, while over 38,400 received hygiene kits. About 311,500 children under age 5 and pregnant and lactating women received nutritional support and/or treatment. More than 16,200 children were vaccinated against preventable diseases. Over 217,800 people were reached with awareness-raising campaigns to prevent gender-based violence and increase knowledge of reproductive health issues, while more than 9,560 pregnant women received antenatal care.

More funding is urgently required to scale up the response in the Grand Sud-Est, and to maintain a localized response and to put in place anticipatory action activities in the Grand Sud in preparation for El Niño impact. By the end of June 2023, the Flash Appeal was approximately 44 per cent funded, with $93.8 million received out of the $214.7 million needed. However, projects in the Grand Sud-Est are underfunded compared to the ones in the Grand Sud and without additional immediate resources, humanitarian partners will be unable to respond and access hard-to-reach areas in the Grand Sud-Est, leaving hundreds of thousands of people at risk of losing their lives.