Madagascar

Madagascar is located in the southern hemisphere, in the South West Indian Ocean, 400 km off the coast of southern Africa, specifically Mozambique. The island is located between 12th and 26th parallels, crossing the Tropic of Capricorn. It has an area of about 590,750 km2, making it the world's fourth largest island after Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo and has many small islands off its coast. Madagascar has 4828 kilometers of coastline stretching over 1,500 kilometers between the Cap d'Ambre in the extreme north and Cape St. Mary in the south and the island is about 500 km at its widest point.

Madagascar is prone to disaster risk, facing four main natural hazards, namely (i) cyclones and tropical storms, (ii) flood, and (iii) drought, which are of meteorological origin and finally (iv) locust infestations. Hydro-meteorological phenomena, such as cyclones and floods, are leading causes of disasters in Madagascar. The cyclone season runs from November 1 to April 30, the most active period being between mid-December and mid-March.

Population exposure to tropical cyclones in the country is the 13th highest in the world, and there is a higher than average relative vulnerability to droughts. In 2007 and 2008, Madagascar suffered from two consecutive cyclone seasons that left very little time for people to get their livelihoods back (see Figure 9). Because of occasional droughts or other unfavorable weather conditions and subsequent crop failures, seasonal food insecurity is a major feature in the country’s profile.

Between December 2006 and March 2007, five successive tropical storms and cyclones hit Madagascar, killing at least 31 people and affecting more than 63,000 others. Rainfall from the storms led to widespread flooding which damaged infrastructure, destroyed crops, and threatened local food security. Although effective early warning and alert systems minimized the casualties from the storms, the consecutive cyclones and extensive flooding depleted local and national response resources, leading the Government of Madagascar to request international assistance.