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In this special episode of Shaping The Future, I am speaking with Menghestab Haile, Regional Director for the World Food Programme in Southern Africa, In particular, we are discussing the climate driven drought in southern Madagascar that has over 1 million people on the brink of starvation, including many children in a state of malnutrition.
The situation is a dire emergency and very much deserves our attention because the drought that is causing the famine is caused directly by emissions from those of us in developed countries.
However, there is a direct link to the previous episode in this series with Alice Hill discussing the need for adaptation and readiness for climate extremes.
As Menghestab points out, southern Madagascar is in a period of transition, and given the right support, they can continue to grow crops here and adapt to new emergent conditions.
I initially contacted the WFP to do this interview to highlight the humanitarian emergency, however, it has been striking that this is what a real-time climate red alert really looks like.
This is a region where many people live by subsistence farming and, no matter the outcome of climate conferences, adaptation is critical.
