Introduction
Madagascar faces a mixture of acute and chronic needs, combining high levels of malnutrition, mortality and disease alongside high and protracted poverty levels, food insecurity and an economic stagnation.
What are the needs?
More than 4.5 million people in southern, southeastern and northern regions, will need humanitarian assistance in 2025. This includes 1.94 million people affected by acute food insecurity. Moreover, nearly 360,000 children under 5 years old are likely to suffer from global acute malnutrition, including 83,400 severe cases. Access to water is a structural problem and is insufficient in periods of drought, which increases the prevalence of water-related diseases. Madagascar continues to experience polio and malaria epidemics, placing a burden on already weak health services
Overall economic and social structures have been impacted by years of crisis, causing internal migration and use of negative coping mechanisms; this has exacerbated social protection needs with issues of child abuse and gender-based violence, as well as increased school dropout.
Protection is a key sector that remains largely unaddressed. The level of prevention and response is currently very low.
How are we helping?
The 2025 initial funding of €7 million aims to reinforce the response provided in recent years, with a focus on hard-to-reach and under-served areas of Grand Sud-Est and a maintained presence in the Grand Sud.
Our support will help provide access to food, health and nutrition services. Integrating protection considerations into all interventions, strengthening coordination at national level, as well as supporting logistics capacities will continue to be important component of the response.
Furthermore, Madagascar is benefitting from the IFRC Programmatic Partnership for the SAIO region, which includes anticipatory action and disaster preparedness.
In 2024, the EU allocated €13.6 million for humanitarian aid in Madagascar, including allocations to:
- assist those most affected by food insecurity, malnutrition and the El Nino-induced drought,
- early warning and disaster preparedness interventions to limit the impact of future disasters,
- reinforcing the air operation set up by the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) enabling humanitarian actors to assist communities in remote ereas.
Last updated: 08/04/2025
Facts & figures
1.9 million people are highly food insecure and need assistance.
18 districts in Grand Sud and Grand Sud-Est regions are classified as being at crisis level (integrated food security phase classification Phase 3) for the 2025 lean season.
Around 360,000 children under 5 are likely to suffer from global acute malnutrition.
EU humanitarian funding:
€7 million in 2025
€13.6 million in 2024
€18.1 million in 2023