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Chamber and committees

Climate Change-induced Famine in Southern Madagascar

  • Submitted by: Kenneth Gibson, Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party.
  • Date lodged: Monday, 06 September 2021
  • Motion reference: S6M-01067

That the Parliament notes with concern reports that, according to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), 1.14 million people in southern Madagascar are currently experiencing the world’s first climate change-induced famine, with 30,000 people in the highest internationally recognised level of food insecurity, level five, and over 500,000 children under the age of five expected to be acutely malnourished by April 2022, if proper nourishment is not supplied; understands that, after having sold all their items of any value for food, and being unable to farm due to the drought, south Madagascar residents, who normally heavily rely on farming, are now condemned to foraging for locusts, raw red cactus fruits, and wild leaves, being entirely reliant upon WFP assistance for anything else; expresses concern at reports that, while the COVID-19 pandemic has been a contributing factor, the most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change observes that the famine has been caused by changes in the climate of Madagascar, which have led to four years without rain in the affected area and the worst drought in four decades, despite these communities making a virtually negligible contribution to climate change; acknowledges that, while the government of Madagascar has laid out plans regarding water management and crop production for the future, the WFP requires over £55 million to help address this immediate humanitarian crisis in a sustainable manner; encourages individuals to donate via the WFP website, but believes that all polluting countries, including the UK, must share responsibility for the part they play in climate change, particularly now that, it believes, the first climate changed-induced famine is a fact, and that aid must be provided to the people suffering from it, and urges the UK Government to reconsider its decision to cut its foreign aid budget, to which taxpayers in Scotland also contribute, from 0.7% to 0.5% of gross national income, at the same time as the economy has declined, and offer support to help alleviate the unfolding famine in southern Madagascar.


Supported by: Karen Adam, Clare Adamson, Colin Beattie, Siobhian Brown, Ariane Burgess, Natalie Don, James Dornan, Annabelle Ewing, Bill Kidd, Monica Lennon, Ruth Maguire, John Mason, Stuart McMillan, Paul Sweeney, David Torrance, Mercedes Villalba