Even before the invasion of Ukraine, many of the poorest nations of the world were suffering the catastrophic impact of climate change.
Earlier this year the island of Madagascar, for example, experienced its ‘worst drought’ in 40 years. UNICEF says half a million under-fives will be ‘acutely malnourished’ this year; in the south, where 80% of the people depend on agriculture to survive, the UN World Food Programme estimates that half of the population now faces hunger. The drought has decimated crops and dried up water sources, resulting in little sustenance for communities and cattle. The pandemic, deforestation and Madagascar’s cyclone season have further exacerbated their woes. According to UNWFP, this could become ‘the first famine to be caused by climate change’.
Then came Vladimir Putin. In June, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced that drastic cuts to food aid there would put an additional 1.7 million people at risk of starvation, as the Ukrainian conflict sucks funding from global aid budgets.
