80% of Madagascar’s original rainforest has been cut down – and soil degradation are leading to a problem that some consider worse than drought: dust and sandstorms known as Tiomena (red wind) that are exacerbating the crisis in the far south by smothering crops.
Unicef estimates that 500,000 children under five will be acutely malnourished this year and about 110,000 will be severely malnourished.
Dr Higor Rodrigues Machado oversees a packed clinic and feeding centre.
“In many villages, one child out of 10 dies due to respiratory diseases and diarrhoea. Infants coming here don’t know how to eat. They lack the reflexes and have to be taught.”
No comments:
Post a Comment