ANTANANARIVO — The United States Government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is responding to the COVID-19 situation in Madagascar by providing $5 million to support cash transfers which are ensuring that vulnerable families in the most affected cities have enough to eat.

The cash transfer program is part of a strategy developed by the Government of Madagascar and run by the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management (BNGRC), the Ministry of Population, Social Protection, and Promotion of Women, and supported by a working group of international partners.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is managing and distributing this U.S. assistance program, which will meet the food and nutrition needs of over 323,000 people in the cities of Antananarivo, Fianarantsoa, Toamasina, Moramanga, Taolagnaro, and Manakara.  Each family will receive a monthly transfer of 100,000 MGA, for a period of two months.

“We want to support the food security of vulnerable families in need, and also to provide a boost to local businesses,” announced U.S. Ambassador Michael P. Pelletier.  “Using these cash transfers, families will buy food and essential goods on the local market, thereby supporting neighborhood businesses and the economy.” 

As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, Madagascar has taken the necessary public health measure of partially locking down select cities to curb the spread of the virus.  The socio-economic impact of the lockdown is being felt most severely by poor urban households without stable incomes.  Movement restrictions affect their ability to work and provide food for their families.

The cash voucher program prioritizes people working in the informal sector who come from households with young children or elderly or disabled family members.

“We are prioritizing these families because they are the ones who struggle the most to access food due to the pandemic’s socio-economic effects,” explained WFP Country Director Moumini Ouedraogo.

In addition to today’s announcement, the U.S. Government has supported the Government of Madagascar’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic by previously donating $2.5 million to support emergency health activities and repurposing another $2.2 million worth of planned activities under USAID’s health projects.