Image copyright AFP Image caption A lack of rain has meant fewer crops in Madagascar’s fields
An unusual build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is behind the crisis in Madagascar, not climate change, a group of scientists has said.
Recent weather patterns and rainfall patterns mean the small island nation has been hit hard by the crisis.
Many feared climate change and rising sea levels would cause ocean waters to rise at the same time as temperatures have risen.
But scientists working with the country’s scientific institute say people should look at food prices instead.
“It’s not the oceans that are rising but farmers’ crop yields,” Andrew Lee, director of the institute, told the BBC.
Mr Lee was one of 27 scientists from 14 countries who recently met with the prime minister of Madagascar, Olivier Mahafaly, on the island.
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Mr Mahafaly, who was recently re-elected, asked them to help him develop a country plan to deal with the ongoing food crisis.
“This is the most important part because we will be dealing with the individual farmers and ensuring they have access to international development and that it will lead to more food,” Mr Lee said.
He pointed out that Madagascar is on the Pacific island region.
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“The rates of carbon dioxide that are trapped in the atmosphere now are rising fast and we know that the ocean will rise. The question is will it rise and how fast,” he said.
“If we control the atmospheric carbon, and we also control the rate of atmospheric carbon, we could avoid those projections.”
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In February, scientists published a paper in the Journal of Climate that claimed rising CO2 levels were responsible for the dramatic changes in monsoon patterns and rainfall that have hit Madagascar.
“We know that it is not the oceans that are rising but farmers’ crop yields,” Mr Lee said.
He also stressed that growing agriculture in Madagascan forests – the source of many of the island’s nutritional and ecological reserves – could be a viable solution to the current crisis.
Mr Lee pointed out that agriculture in northern Madagascar, such as that in Banafoka Forest Reserve, supported over 600,000 people.
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Climate researchers say changes in weather patterns have hit as much as 60% of Madagascar’s rice crops.
“Many of the researchers met with PM Mahafaly and are already trying to work out how we can manage Madagascar’s food crisis as best we can,” Mr Lee said.
BBC News