Madagascar's hungry eat grasshoppers after deadly cyclone

Terra Daily AFP: With small, silent steps, 10-year-old Borikely carefully picks her way through the tall grass of a Madagascar field in search of her dinner. She's hunting for grasshoppers, which she'll catch with a stick. Once speared, she places them carefully in a small round straw basket and within a few minutes, she has collected dozens of insects.

This is Borikely's only meal of the day, revealing the extent of the food crisis that has gripped the Indian Ocean island since cyclone Haruna hit three weeks ago. "I don't like grasshoppers, but I am forced to eat them since the cyclone because I am hungry," Borikely told AFP.

The storm killed 26 people and affected nearly 40,000 more, devastating several villages and forcing thousands of people to cram into emergency camps. Now, villagers like Borikely fill their stomachs by eating grasshoppers which are cooked with a little salt and water, or grilled in some parts of the country.

The fields in Borikely's isolated village of Ankilimalangy, five hours drive inland from the coastal city of Toliara, were completely flooded by the February 22 storm. The village is typical of Madagascar's arid southwest where crops are only harvested once a year.

When tropical storms or cyclones hit -- which they do almost every year -- an entire village crop can easily be wiped out. An hour from Toliara lies Mangily, a holiday destination where sun-bathing tourists seem blissfully unaware of the recent devastation and the lack of drinking water.

…French charity group Action Against Hunger, which invited AFP to see the extent of the needs of the hurricane's victims, has begun disinfecting contaminated wells with chlorine and has installed a pump system to try to remove the dirty water….