SILVER SPRING, Md.--To address the nutritional needs of more than 18,000 families in Madagascar's southern region who continue to suffer from food shortages as a result of an ongoing drought, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is partnering with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), according to an agency official.
"Our goal is to help families cope with the challenges they are currently facing, reducing their shocks that are caused by the ongoing drought, and its effects on their food sources," said Peter Delhove, country director for ADRA Madagascar. "This intervention is designed to meet their needs until the next harvest."
Through this four-month intervention, ADRA expects to assist more than 18,000 families in the districts of Ambovombe and Tsihombe, Androy Region, located in the southernmost part of the island nation. The project will distribute more than 4,000 tons of food and provide much-needed agricultural implements to beneficiaries through its ongoing Food-for-Work activities.
Project partners include the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
According to the United Nations, food insecurity in the region has continued to rise, with an estimated 31 communes affected by food insecurity in May, 20 more than were reported in April of 2008. Out of 160 households sampled in 16 food insecure communes, 100 percent were reported by the WFP to be severely food insecure.
ADRA Madagascar has been partnering with WFP in the Androy Region since 2007, following an appeal by the Government of Madagascar to meet the needs of communities in regards to food security and agricultural development.
Since 1991, ADRA Madagascar has implemented programs in the areas of food security, child survival, and family planning.
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ADRA is a non-governmental organization present in 125 countries providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.
For more information about ADRA, visit www.adra.org.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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