ANTANANARIVO – At a press briefing at the U.S. Embassy today, Ambassador Claire A. Pierangelo announced that the U.S. government, on behalf of the American people, will provide an additional $20 million (MGA 83 billion) to improve food security in southern and western Madagascar.
The funding is part of a larger U.S. effort to mitigate the social and economic consequences stemming from the war in Ukraine. It also helps implement the recently announced expansion of the U.S. Feed the Future global food security initiative to include Madagascar among other countries.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will use these funds for new and existing projects designed to build resilience among Madagascar’s most vulnerable citizens through health, nutrition, agriculture, livelihoods, and disaster mitigation and preparedness programs. The funds will also provide nutritious food rations to communities in the South through the World Food Program.
“[The Ukraine] conflict which seems so far away has in fact disrupted supply chains, and sparked significant price increases for food, fertilizer, and fuel right here in Madagascar,” Ambassador Pierangelo told the assembled journalists, “. . . which is among countries most vulnerable to the significant global repercussions of these disruptions.”
The United States remains the largest bilateral contributor to food security in Madagascar. This is particularly true in the South, where sustained drought and repeated natural disasters have negatively impacted both the economy of the region and the health of its people.
Since 2015, USAID has provided more than $346 million (MGA 1.4 trillion) for emergency and development assistance to the south, reaching more than 1.5 million of the country’s most vulnerable citizens.
“Over the past three decades, we have worked together with the government and the people of Madagascar through the challenges of cyclones, plague, measles, and drought. We will continue to work together, like ‘mpirahalahy mianala’ to address food insecurity,” Ambassador Pierangelo said.