Looming Madagascar Famine Sparks Nutrition Emergency

GENEVA - Famine is looming in southern Madagascar and emergency food aid is needed for hundreds of thousands of people to head off a humanitarian disaster on the African island nation, the U.N. World Food Program warned.

Five consecutive years of drought, exacerbated by unexpected sandstorms, have depleted people's food stocks, forcing them to resort to desperate measures to survive.  The WFP senior director of operations in Madagascar, Amer Daoudi, said at least 1.35 million people are suffering from acute hunger, many of whom are living off locusts, raw cactus fruits or wild leaves.  He said malnutrition is soaring to alarming levels, putting the lives of many children under age five at risk. While on a diplomatic and governmental tour of the region, he said he saw horrific images of starving, malnourished and stunted children.