Drought in southern Africa has left many people facing " high " levels of starvation with nothing but wild fruits to eat . Aid is desperately needed to prevent an already dire situation becoming a " disaster " warn UN agencies . “ Emergency ” is phase four of a five - point scale used by food agencies , where five is famine . Many households are resorting to begging , selling land or livestock , and eating vital seed stocks in order to stay alive . seed stocks from the last harvest had already run out by August with the next harvest not due until March next year .
Drought in southern Madagascar has left 850,000 people experiencing "emergency" levels of hunger with nothing but wild fruits to eat. Aid is desperately needed to prevent an already dire situation becoming a "catastrophe" warn UN agencies. “Emergency” is phase four of a five-point scale used by food agencies, where five is famine. Many households are resorting to begging, selling land or possessions, and eating vital seed stocks in order to stay alive. Food stocks from the last harvest had already run out by August with the next harvest not due until March next year.