(English) The World Must Listen: the mental and physical impacts of climate catastrophe on Madagascar

Mae’n ddrwg gen i, mae’r cofnod hwn dim ond ar gael mewn English.

Two reports in recent days have addressed the severity of climate catastrophe’s impact on Malagasy men, women and children.

Amnesty International has issued an extremely critical report regarding the treatment of more than 90,000 Antandroy men, women and children who have been forced to flee the Androy region in Southern Madagascar since 2017.

The region has been stricken by drought which Amnesty says are:

‘Deeply rooted in the French colonial era which introduced cochineal parasites to eradicate the opuntia monacantha, a drought-resilient cactus growing in the region. This policy contributed to the vulnerability of the Antandroy people to droughts, which the government of Madagascar and scientists have in recent years linked to global climate change.’

The Antandroy were forced from their homes, but despite travelling 1,500km to reach the Boeny region – a journey many were able to make only by submitting to severe exploitation – found there was no provision for them even in the form of access to productive land.

And in 2021, worse was to come, as the Malagasy government evicted Antandroy people who had built homes or cultivated land bordering the Ankarafantsika National Park.

The government argued that the land is in a designated reforestation area, and so the homes and cultivation were preventing environmental protection and expansion – a sharply ironic clash familiar to us between human survival in Madagascar in the immediate term and in the medium- to longer-term all over the planet.

But that does not alter the fact that climate catastrophe has uprooted tens of thousands of people in Madagascar – the world’s fourth-poorest country – and little to nothing has been done to assist them in recovery and rebuilding their lives.

Also yesterday (Wednesday 30 July 2025), the Development and Cooperation news source, funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, reported on the study “There is no hope; only strong wind”: How climate change impacts adolescent mental health in southern Madagascar by Hadfield, K,. et al.

The study, on which we reported in April, suggests widespread depression and other negative mental health impacts are being experienced by Malagasy youngsters and teenagers in the south of Madagascar, with 82 per cent showing probable depression, and 76-87 per cent exhibiting probable generalised anxiety disorder.

As we noted, food insecurity and hunger appear to be driving this mental distress.

Within the previous 12 months, 90 per cent of the young people surveyed had experienced their household running out of food, 95 per cent reported having been hungry but unable to find food to eat, and 69 per cent had gone at least one entire day without food.

The report concludes that in order to rebuild and maintain the mental health of Malagasy young people, actors with the capacity to do so should:

• Improve food and water security, which underpins all aspects of wellbeing

• Empower adolescents with knowledge and skills to adapt agricultural methods to the changing climate, giving them power and certainty

• Ensure continuous, safe access to education

• Reintroduce opportunities for activities that foster psychological wellbeing, such as music, dancing and art

These are all initiatives we are providing to Madagascar adults and children.

Our Resilient Forests and Livelihoods programme improves food and water security, including (though not exclusively) by training and providing equipment to people to adapt agricultural methods.

In Education for Life, we ensure that children and young people can access, and make the most of decent education, helping them fulfil their potential, and under the Children for the Future programme we work to ensure children and young people who cannot live with their families have the education, food, shelter, security, care and attention they need and deserve.

But we cannot do this alone. Not only do we need your continued support, which you have steadfastly and selflessly supplied over the years, or even ‘just’ the help of the Malagasy government, itself under pressure from cuts in aid from the US, UK and other countries.

We also need the international community to take its place in helping the people and environment of Madagascar, because it is the just thing to do and because it will help save us all from the worst impacts of the looming climate catastrophe.

Tigere Chagutah Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, said: ‘Madagascar’s contribution to global carbon emissions is negligible. Yet, the Antandroy people find themselves bearing the brunt of a crisis created, in part, by the actions of high-income historical emitting countries and French colonial rule. France must own up to its historical role in the ongoing crisis and provide reparatory justice for the colonial wrongs against the Antandroy. High income, historical emitting states must financially support Madagascar with grants and the transfer of environmentally–sound technologies.

‘Responsibility for the support and protection of the Antandroy IDPs goes beyond Madagascar – regional and international partners including the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU), the United Nations, as well as humanitarian organisations, must mobilise resources to speed up adaptation efforts.’

We are already here, working with and for Malagasy people. With your support, we can do more. But we call on the world to take notice and act now. Please share and support our call.