S. Madagascar on the verge of climate change-induced famine: How to help

AMBOVOMBE, MADAGASCAR -- "Kere" is a word that echoes around southern Madagascar. It means hunger, and the people here know it all too well.

For the past four years, the lack of food has become a constant in their lives.

But unlike other countries, where extreme hunger and near-famine conditions are caused by war, conflict, or isolated weather events, in this part of Madagascar, the cause is so far unique: southern Madagascar is on the verge of becoming the world's first climate-change induced near-famine in modern history.

Arduino Mangoni, the deputy country director of the World Food Programme in Madagascar, told ABC News he had "never seen people, especially children, in this situation that we’re seeing here."