Loharano has avoided the fate of many in southern Madagascar through the use of new farming methods.
Loharano's effortless grace belies the hard work that she is doing to stave off the tragedy that is unfolding in parts of her region of Madagascar.
Over one million people in Madagascar are battling severe hunger due to the worst drought in four decades. "Now, we have breakfast, lunch and dinner," Loharano says proudly as she shows off her plot of land where she and Mandilimana have grown an impressive range of crops."We eat the husk from the ground millet with sugar and this is the favourite food of the children, their bellies are always full of millet."
"They died of hunger in the village. They died one by one, day by day. We didn't eat for one week. Nothing to eat, nothing to drink."The residents of the makeshift camp in Ambovombe fled their homes fearing starvationPromises of aid from the government have not materialised for them, he says. Many political commentators blame what they see as the government's slowness to react for exacerbating the hunger crisis in the south, but Madagascar's environment minister sees things very differently.
Researchers found that though the recent rains have been poor and the probability of future droughts may be on the rise, the change in rainfall cannot be attributed to human impact on the climate.