MADAGASCAR-DROUGHT-ENVIRONMENT-HUNGER

Helmine Monique Sija, about 50 years old, prepares raketa (cactus) to eat with her daughter Tolie, 10 years old, in the village of Atoby, commune of Behara, on August 30, 2021. - The raketa only helps to cut the feeling of hunger but does not provide any nutrients and is known to give strong stomach aches. It must be boiled for a long time before being eaten. Three of her children have left for Tsihombe, 100km to the west in the Androy region, to try to find work. She would like to live somewhere else in a more fertile area so that she can farm, but she does not have enough money to move. Every day, her children buy water (5 cents USD for a 20-liter can) from the Mandrare River, located 7 kilometers away.For several decades the South-East of Madagascar has been a victim of the "Kere" phenomenon, as the local population calls it. Kere is the food crisis due to a period of intense drought that causes a sudden stop of the cultivation of crops by the farmers for several months each year. The farmers are left without money and in a situation of "severe malnutrition" or even starvation. (Photo by RIJASOLO / AFP) (Photo by RIJASOLO/AFP via Getty Images)