Kere (famine)
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (October 2024) |
| Kere | |
|---|---|
| Country | Madagascar |
| Location | Southern Madagascar |
| Period | 1930s– (ongoing) |
| Causes | drought, deforestation, pests and diseases including locusts and cochineal, lawlessness |
The Kere (also Kére, lit. 'starved to death') is a recurrent famine that has occurred in Madagascar's Deep South region since the 1930s.[1] Though the Kere has not always reoccurred annually, there has not been a year without a Kere event in several decades.[1] The famine, affecting a region of approximately 50,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi) from the Mandrare River to the Onilahy River, kills thousands of people per year and contributes to the severe poverty of the region—97% of the population in the zone prone to the Kere are classified as "very poor" by Madagascar's Institut National de la Statistique.[1] Though aid interventions aimed at alleviating the Kere have taken place for decades, the famine has been resistant and worsening. In the Kere zone, non-Kere periods are called anjagne ('good' or 'peacetime').[1]
Causes
[edit]Raketa war and first great famine
[edit]
In 1923, the French colonial administration of Madagascar launched a campaign to eliminate the spiny raketa (cactus) vegetation of the Deep South in order to facilitate the complete annexation of the island. The cacti (Opuntia ficus-indica, O. tomentosa, O. robusta, O. monacantha, and O. vulgaris) had served as a food source and barrier to colonial control for the southern peoples, enabling tribal anti-colonial fighters (Sadiavahe, lit. 'loincloth made from wood-root') to resist French annexation for over 20 years. In November 1924, French officials released modified cochineal insects (Dactylopius tomentosus),[2] which locals refer to as pondifoty, into healthy raketa thickets in Tsongobory. The insect effectively decimated the vegetation at a rate of 100 kilometers per year,[2] and by 1929 an official report of the "death of the raketa" was sent to the colonial governor. This caused the first great famine, lasting from 1930 to 1933 or 1934, claiming a conservatively-estimated 500,000 lives and marking the beginning of the Kere.[1]
The first Kere is called the Marotaolagne ('scattered human skeletons') or the Tsimivositse ('uncircumcised', as some tribal subgroups stopped circumcising their boys to symbolize the tragedy). A 2022 study of the experiences of the people of the Kere territory quoted a participant on the legacy of the introduction of the pondifoty: "Raketa forest ... provides us with supplementary food, wood to cook and to build our house, and to feed our animals—thus, when the raketa forest died, part of us also died."[1]
Deforestation
[edit]Slash-and-burn agriculture and overharvesting of charcoal and cooking wood have led to a serious crisis of deforestation in Madagascar. The land has become barren, making droughts worse and compounding seasonal famine conditions.[1]
Government failures and political unrest
[edit]Pests
[edit]Periodic plagues of valala (Malagasy migratory locust, Locusta migratoria capito) damage crops that survive harsh climactic conditions, as do fall armyworms (Spodoptera frugiperda). Weevils and khapra beetles devastate stored food supplies and live crops.[1]
Drought
[edit]Climate and demography
[edit]The Kere affects Madagascar's Deep South region—mostly the semiarid Mahafaly plateau, specifically the districts of Ampanihy and Betioky, and the arid sandy lands of Ambovombe, Bekily, Tsihombe, and Beloha. The affected territory experiences an annual temperature range of 22–35 °C (72–95 °F) and mean annual rainfall of 400 millimetres (16 in). Rainfall is seasonal, with up to 80 millimetres (3.1 in) a month in the rainy season of December to March, and no rainfall at all in the dry season of April to September. Dry periods that last for several years are called asaramaike ('dry rain-season')[1]
The people living in the Kere territory are overwhelmingly poor, with 97% of the population being classified as "very poor" by Madagascar's Institut National de la Statistique. The affected region is inhabited mostly by the pastoralist Mahafaly and Antandroy peoples, as well as some Antanosy and Bara, among others. 94% of the people of the Deep South are pastoralists, mostly "subsistence peasants" who rely heavily on the forest for sustenance. Zebu cattle are highly important to the culture and economy of the region. During the Kere, cattle graze on cacti. The Kere-prone zones are hotbeds of violent crime and lawless rule by dahalo, cattle-rustling bandits.[1]
Conditions and history
[edit]Residents of the Deep South describe the Kere as developing in four stages: the anjagne (peacetime); the period of scarcity of food for livestock and animals and abundance of food for humans; the period of scarcity of food for livestock and abundance of food for humans; the period of scarcity of food for both livestock and humans. The final stage is the deadliest form of Kere.[1]
As people are starved by a Kere event, some may travel on foot to search for food to bring home to their families. Many of these do not return, and many who do return find their relatives deceased or their households empty. Kere survivors report walking for up to 25 kilometres (16 mi) to find water, and some, pressed by severe dehydration and desperation, drink seawater. Those who consume dirty water collected from street puddles and boreholes are at great risk of waterborne illness.[1] During the first Kere, the tribal territories of the Mahafaly, Antandroy, and Antanosy peoples were filled with dead cacti, animals, and humans.[1]
The durations of Kere events are varied. One event, called Baramino ('Digging Bar') in 1997, was felt for less than a year. Kere survivors divide historical Kere events into the categories of "ancient" (pre-1993) and recent (post-1993), with ancient Kere being generally considered more severe among locals.[1] Kere have names; due to poor literacy in the region, these names are used as opposed to years.[1]
| Number | Name | Trigger | Years | Geographic scope | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marotaolagne
('Scattered Human Skeletons'), Tsimivositse ('Uncircumcised') |
Death of raketa | 1930–1934 | Deep South | ~500,000 dead, mass migration, some groups stopped circumcision |
| 2 | Marotaolagne ('Scattered Human Skeletons') | El Niño, Battle of Madagascar | 1943–1946 | Deep South | ~1 million dead |
| 3 | Beantane ('Many Downed') | 1955–1958 | Deep South | ||
| 4 | Menaleogne ('Red Pounder') | El Niño | 1970–1972 | Deep South | Triggered proclamation of Antandroy secession |
| 5 | Santira-Vy ('Iron Belt') | 1980–1982 | Deep South | ||
| 6 | Malalak'akanjo ('Loose Shirt') | 1982–1983 | Deep South | ||
| 7 | Bekalapake ('Dried Cassavas') | 1986–1987 | Deep South | ||
| 8 | Tsimitolike ('Don't Turn') | 1988–1989 | Deep South | ||
| 9 | SOS Sud ('SOS South') | 1990–1992 political crisis, El Niño | 1992–1994 | Deep South | Mass migration, first emergency management and international aid response |
| 10 | Bekalapake ('Surrounded') | 1995–1996 | Manambovo | ||
| 11 | Baramino
('Digging Bar') |
1997–1998 | Bekily, Beloha | ||
| 12 | [No name assigned] | 2002 political crisis, El Niño, insecurity | 2004–2005 | Deep South | |
| 13 | Bekalapake ('Red Dusty Wind') | 2009 political crisis, insecurity, El Niño | 2009–2013 | Androy, Ampanihy | |
| 14 | Bekalapake ('Wobbly Walking') | El Niño, insecurity | 2014–2017 | Tsihombe, Anjapaly, Ampanihy | |
| 15 | [No name assigned] | El Niño, insecurity, COVID-19 pandemic | 2020–2021 | Deep South |
2021–2022 Kere
[edit]A Kere affecting the Deep South from 2021 to 2022 was Madagascar's worst drought in 40 years.
Impact
[edit]Each Kere event has killed thousands and sparked mass migrations out of the Deep South. In 1972, a "bloody secessionist rebellion" called the rotaka followed a Kere event in the south, in part due to perceived insensitivity and apathy from Madagascar's central government to the plight of the southerners.[1] Residents of the Kere zone report a breakdown of the social fabric of their communities in times of Kere, pointing to increased youth banditry and sex work.[1] Kere events are associated with mass migration as residents flee the famine and outbreaks of dahalo crime. The first Kere reduced the population of the Deep South by half, and 15% of survivors migrated from the region.[1]
Aid and response
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The first emergency management response and international aid program for the Kere was prompted by the "SOS Sud" Kere event of 1993.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Ralaingita, Maixent I.; Ennis, Gretchen; Russell-Smith, Jeremy; Sangha, Kamaljit; Razanakoto, Thierry (2022-03-26). "The Kere of Madagascar: a qualitative exploration of community experiences and perspectives". Ecology and Society. 27 (1). doi:10.5751/ES-12975-270142. ISSN 1708-3087.
- ^ a b Kaufmann, Jeffrey C. (2000). "Forget the Numbers: The Case of a Madagascar Famine". History in Africa. 27: 143–157. doi:10.2307/3172111. ISSN 0361-5413.