Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary General, has expressed strong concern over the levels of malnutrition in the Country.
He said on Wednesday in a report presented in Antananarivo (Madagascar) that it was among Africa’s highest.
Ban said nearly half of children under-five suffer from stunted growth and nine per cent suffer from acute malnutrition.
Ban called malnutrition “a tragedy for the people and a disaster for the country’s development”.
The study said experts attributed the high levels of malnutrition to a combination of factors including a one-sided rice-based diet and poor hygiene, which can cause diarrhoea.
The study Madagascar’s economy loses about 1.5 billion dollars – 15 per cent of gross domestic product – annually due to the effects of malnutrition on people.
Madagascar official said government has launched a UN-sponsored plan to improve nutrition, which would invest 40 million dollars annually to boost the quality of oil and flour, and to distribute food supplements to children and pregnant women.
UN warns against high levels of child malnutrition in Madagascar NAN-F-11
