from MARIO RAJOMAZANDRY in Antananarivo, Madagascar
Madagascar Bureau
ANTANANARIVO, (CAJ News) – THE World Food Programme (WFP) is leveraging drone technology in its intervention in the crisis in Madagascar, one of the countries most impacted by climate change in the world.
This technology is enabling the agency to distribute aid in previously inaccessible regions of the Indian Ocean island, where some villages are remote.
WFP hails this Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) as the new face of humanitarian assistance, one where technology is breaking barriers that once seemed impossible.
“This is a step toward our dream where no community is too far to receive help,” says WFP Madagascar United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) head, Nejmeddine Halfaoui.
Highly prone to weather extremes, nature has been one of the biggest obstacles in getting life-saving aid to hungry communities.
Harsh terrain, flooding and underdeveloped infrastructure mean that communities often wait weeks or even months for assistance, in a country where more than 1,9 million people face acute food insecurity, and nearly 40 percent of children are chronically malnourished.
Olivier Marcel, Coordinator of Madagascar’s National Nutrition Office, welcomed the introduction of drone technology.
“WFP’s pioneering unmanned aircraft, able to deliver 160 kilos of nutritional supplements per drop, can dramatically improve the treatment of malnourished children in remote areas,” Marcel said.
Donors to the drone technology include Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United States and the United Nations.
– CAJ News