Though it escaped the worst impacts of Freddy, it hit as Madagascar was still rebuilding from a devastating cyclone in January and six in 2022.
The death toll from Cyclone Freddy continues to rise, with reports of over 500 deaths in Malawi, Mozambique, and Madagascar. The likely longest-ever recorded cyclone - with the highest-ever recorded accumulated energy for such a storm - hit Africa for a second time this March, causing widespread destruction as it swept away buildings, roads, and farms.
In Madagascar, at least 17 people were killed and over 70,000 people affected as Cyclone Freddy made landfall in February and battered the island with wind and rain again in March. Though this death toll is low relative to other affected countries, the impacts of the storm on the island nation will be deep and long-lasting. Freddy destroyed critical infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and roads, while heavy rainfall flooded farms, worsening the country's critical food insecurity.
Madagascar was already facing what some scientists have dubbed the world's first climate change-induced famine following historic droughts and crop failures traced to changing weather patterns. The country was also still rebuilding from Cyclone Cheneso, which struck the island this January, as well as from six cyclones in 2022. Now, the world's third most vulnerable country to climate change is counting the costs of another storm, which scientists say is likely to have been more intense due to the warmer atmosphere, hotter oceans, and higher sea levels.
In the rural commune of Androy in the central Haute Matsiatra region, farmers are mourning the loss of the crops they rely on to subside and make a living.
"Thank God [Cyclone Freddy] did not destroy our house...Thank God no life was lost, but it destroyed many things," says Razafindramasa Bemananjara. "People's crops were already ripe, and the wind hit these hard."
Jean Emile Rakotomalala was one such farmer to see his whole season's efforts destroyed. "I could not recover anything of the three plots of cropland I had," he says with sorrow.
The winds in Androy also ripped the roof off the Lutheran church, adding to the local primary school which fell to a similar fate in another cyclone months earlier. Classes have been relocated to private homes the area. A local headmaster explained that, often, school is cancelled for a week when there is a cyclone to avoid students having to take precarious journeys in the aftermath of floods.
Androy's mayor, Harijaona Randrianirina, explained that Cyclone Freddy arrived before the commune could rebuild from the damage of Cyclone Batsirai in 2022. In that storm, he said, "60% of the fish farming in our locality [and] around 80 houses were destroyed". Since then, many households have been living together, unable to afford to repair the damage.
These experiences of being struck by repeated natural hazards are common across much of Madagascar. In Ikongo, in the neighbouring Fitovinany region, Cyclone Batsirai led to 71 deaths and exacerbated widespread hunger. In a recent report, Gilles Grandclément, the regional lead from the humanitarian organisation MSF, told France24: "Some families are in such dire situations that they have approached MSF members offering to sell their children". In the Diana and Boeny regions in the north, Cyclone Cheneso this January affected 141,000 hectares of cropland, washing away essential crops and destroying precious reserves of rice, fertiliser, and seeds.
According to a risk modelling study by the World Bank, natural hazards are likely to cause at least $100 million worth of damage in Madagascar every year, with once-in-century cyclones - which become more likely with climate change - potentially causing over $800 million in losses. It is this kind of devastation that a new Loss and Damage fund, agreed to at the COP27 gathering last year in Egypt, is meant to address. In principle, the agreement will see historic polluters compensate lower-income countries which are paying the price for climate change. A lack of details and delays in establishing the fund, however - not to mention unmet climate promises by the Global North in the recent past - have tempered some of the jubilation over what was seen as a major breakthrough at the summit.
In Madagascar, many people feel neglected by both the international community and their own government. In Androy, for instance, locals seem to have few expectations of the state and only express vague hopes of receiving official support. "We have no way to repair the damage," says farmer Clarisse Rasolonirina, "I wish someone could help me."
Many critics say a key reason people have seen so little state support is that all aid is currently managed by the National Risk Management Office (BNGRC), which has been accused of misgovernance and corruption. Last year, for example, a documentary by the local news channel IBC reported that disaster survivors in Ikongo district were being given a paltry 70g of rice each along with three capsules of oil and some beans. Some citizens have decried the BNGRC's approach and have suggested that allegations against it are dissuading international donors from providing greater support.
"There is nothing wrong in a centralised approach, but it must prove itself to be decentralised too as that is the only way aids will reach beneficiaries"," says Pastor Hubert Rakotoarivony, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the local humanitarian organisation SAF/FJKM. "What complicates things is that many know some funds and goods do not reach the beneficiaries. These things should be addressed."
General Elack Andriakaja, Director-General of the BNGRC, defends his office's policies. "Without coordination, nothing will work as it is supposed to," he says. He adds that the systems are not meant to be overly rigid. "The state does not punish if you do not follow the rules," he continues. "If a commune wants to send and give support, I do not forbid them...BNGRC has never forbidden anyone to go to a specific place and distribute aid."
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According to Mayor Randrianirina of Androy, however, local administrative units in Madagascar lack the authority to manage budgets or distribute resources. They therefore focus their energies on sensitising local populations about the dangers of cyclones and issuing warnings. Awareness raising is also a key focus among institutions and NGOs.
"We need a mindset change to a significant extent," says Rakotoarivony from SAF/FJKM. "The Malagasy are reactive whenever they face a disaster. However, what we need is to be proactive in facing the eventual climate changes."
Others emphasise the need for comprehensive, long-term support that cuts across sectors and interrelated challenges. Madagascar is already experiencing a vicious cycle of extreme weather, food scarcity, and insecurity, and the country's climate change adaptation plan predicts that, by 2100, cyclone intensity will increase by 46%.
Dr Velomahanina Razakamaharavo is a Research Fellow at the University of Reading and works at the intersection of gender, peace, security and technology. She has extensive experience on peace and conflict processes in Madagascar. Lalatiana Rakotondranaivo is a Research Assistant for the Hybricon project and a communication specialist. She has been working on peace, conflict transformation and climate justice. Marc Lanteigne is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, specialising in comparative international relations including Sino-African diplomacy.
