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About this report
Aim of the report: in Madagascar, the cyclone season runs from December–April. This report provides an overview of the country’s cyclone exposure based on historical data from 2000–2023, its cyclone vulnerabilities, and its response capacities, aiming to inform strategic planning and anticipatory action.
Methodology: this report is based on secondary sources with historical data covering previous cyclone incidents. Sources include humanitarian organisations, think tanks, academic research, government demographic data, disaster risk management plans, and local and international media.
Scope: the geographic scope of this report is at the country level. The cyclone vulnerability analysis focuses on socioeconomic vulnerability factors, infrastructure, food security, national response capacities, and access to water, sanitation, and health services.
Limitations: the limitations of this analysis include the limited availability of hazard vulnerability information at the subnational level, demographic data sourced from the 2018 census, and a lack of updated assessment reports looking into current national response capacities.
CRISIS RISK OVERVIEW
Because of its geographic location and climatic conditions, Madagascar frequently experiences natural hazards, such as droughts, tropical cyclones, and floods, and is among the most vulnerable country to the effects of climate change worldwide (UN News 20/01/2023;
ND-GAIN accessed 08/12/2023). At ‘high risk’, this country ranks 27th out of 191 countries in the 2024 INFORM Risk Index, a global, open-source risk assessment tool built on a set of exposure, vulnerability, and coping capacity indicators (EC accessed 29/12/2023). High poverty rates, weak governance, and inadequate human and physical capital, combined with reliance on rain-fed agriculture and inadequate infrastructure, collectively undermine community resilience to natural hazards, triggering humanitarian needs and hampering long-term development efforts (IMF 16/11/2022; IOM Accessed 18/01/2024 accessed; WB accessed 29/12/2023).
The country is still recovering from the impact of Cyclone Freddy in February 2023 and its widespread damage to infrastructure and homes, affecting over 290,000 people as at 14 March 2023 (OCHA 14/03/2023; IFRC 13/03/2023). The cyclone also aggravated the impact of the drought the country had been experiencing since 2018. People affected in the Grand-Sud and the Grand Sud-Est struggled to recover after the loss of their livelihoods and the effects on their ready-to-harvest crops, such as rice and fruits (IPC 22/08/2023; FSIN 05/03/2023; IFRC 13/03/2023).
In a typical year, Madagascar’s long rainy season runs from January–April, while the cyclone season runs from December–April. During this periods, the country experiences cyclones with strong winds, heavy rainfall, and storm surges causing flooding, landslides, displacements, and cropland and livestock destruction, leading to the loss of livelihoods (FEWS NET accessed 12/09/2023; FAO 17/03/2023; Duke Lemur Center accessed 17/09/2023).
Between 2000–2023, 47 tropical storms and cyclones hit Madagascar, severely damaging the country’s infrastructure, economy, and food security and leaving more than 740,000 people homeless. During the same period, these cyclones affected more than six million people, with an average of 1.3 million people affected yearly (EM-DAT accessed 11/10/2023).