Madagascar

Madagascar Rebuilding after Devastating Storms
Associated Press, April 21, 2000

Villagers in Madagascar's cyclone-ravaged northeast have quickly rebuilt many homes but much still needed to be done to repair schools and clinics and restore rice and vanilla crops, aid workers said Friday. Earlier this month, Cyclone Hudah ripped through the northeast section of this island nation off southeast Africa, killing at least 111 people and damaging or destroying the property or crops of up to 100,000 people, according to government estimates. In the worst-hit areas, up to 90 percent of infrastructure, two-thirds of rice crops and half of the vanilla crop were believed lost. The cyclone came on the heels of two other storms, Cyclone Eline in February and Tropical Storm Gloria in March, which together killed 130 people and damaged the homes or crops of some 185,000 people, mostly along Madagascar's eastern coast. ...With emergency operations well underway, other agencies have expressed concern over the costs of interrupted schooling and health care and the loss of cash crops such as cloves, coffee and vanilla. Madagascar is the world's leading exporter of vanilla, which takes some three years to grow.

Drought in Madagascar
Vita.org, June 7, 2000

The current drought is causing sharp declines in yields of maize, cassava and sweet potatoes. The Warning System which keeps a database on food security, climate, and prices and monitors all disasters in the South, reported that the situation is likely to deteriorate in regard to the food crops as well as livestock, while it has not yet reached the state of famine.