Cyclone Freddy returned to hit Madagascar in late February, more than 150,000 people have been affected and nearly 11,000 have been displaced due to violent winds and heavy rainfall. The death toll has risen since its initial passage. In its latest assessment, the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management reported more than 100,000 victims and 7 deaths in the 7 regions affected by cyclone Freddy among them one and half year old child lost his life when a house collapsed on him. The school infrastructure was the most affected and thousands of students are no longer schooling. Several communes are still flooded in the Atsimo Andrefana ( South West) and Menabe regions: in those areas, the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management  reported 414 flooded huts and 2863 people affected from 689 households. The number of displaced people is 1939 in Manja district and 362 in the sites of Toliara I and Morombe. In the Toliara II area, all crops are damaged.

The members of FARM (Femmes en Action Rurale de Madagascar)/RWA Madagascar are among the worst affected: their houses being destroyed, their children no longer going to school, and the agriculture that provided them with food and income is destroyed. Moreover, they are suffering from violence against them. The government solves problems in a temporary way, having no medium and long-term solutions and not taking into account the loss of agriculture and livestock. United Nations agencies such as UNICEF are engaged in the rehabilitation of the destroyed schools and their equipment. Usually, each organisation solves these problems and losses according to the limited means at its disposal. It provides food aid to affected members. There is also a need to help those who are severely affected by losing their agriculture, livestock and whose houses have been damaged.

The government and the International community must not stop at emergency aid. We need to continue to support people after the disaster so that they can rebuild their livelihoods. The damage and losses caused by the climate crisis is causing extreme poverty for vulnerable people and small-scale producers, especially women farmers, who must be supported and compensated for the damage they are undergoing.