Madagascar

In Madagascar, we provide daily meals at schools in some of the poorest communities and feed a small number of vulnerable children who are being held in prison.  

We have been providing Mary’s Meals in Madagascar since 2018. We deliver programmes in the north, central and south east. We enjoy a strong partnership with Scotland-based charity, Feedback Madagascar who feed in schools. 

French organisation Grandir Dignement delivers our programme in detention centres where children are as young as eight years old. Conditions in these centres are so severe, they can be life-threatening. Poor availability of food makes malnutrition a critical concern.

Life in Madagascar 

Madagascar is an island country in the Indian Ocean where farming, fishing and forestry form the backbone of the economy.

Most of the country’s subsistence farming is small-scale, with 7 out of 10 smallholder farmers owning no more than 1.2 hectares of land, and food production insufficient to sustain the population.

This is further compounded by the country’s geographical isolation and vulnerability to natural disasters.

Mary's Meals in Madagascar

We are currently feeding over 88,000 children in places of education, including 303 schools and 6 youth detention centres.

We feed children aged 4 to 11 in schools, and 8 to 18 in detention centres.

A typical school meal is rice with pinto beans/ lentils/ peanuts and greens. Children in detention centres receive rice with vegetables and meat or fish.

Did you know?

25% of the population live in areas vulnerable to cyclones, floods 
and droughts.

Around 50% of children under five suffer 
chronic malnutrition.

70% of people in Madagascar live below the International Poverty Line of $1.90 per day.