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With few trees left to slow the wind in southern Madagascar, sand blows continuously.
在马达加斯加南部，几乎没有树木可以减缓风速，沙子不停地吹着。
It settles across fields, villages, roads and in the eyes of hungry children waiting for food aid.
它遍布田野、村庄、道路和等待食物援助的饥饿的儿童的眼睛。
Four years of extremely dry weather and forest clearing to make farmland have turned the once fertile area into a dusty red emptiness.
四年的极端干旱天气和森林被砍伐后变成农田，使得曾经肥沃的地区变成了一片尘土飞扬的红色空地。
"There's nothing to harvest. That's why we have nothing to eat and we're starving," said Tarira.
塔里拉说：“没有什么可收获的。这就是我们没有食物的原因，我们在挨饿”。
The mother of seven waited at the World Food Program (WFP) center near Anjeky Beanatara.
这位七个孩子的母亲在Anjeky Beanatara附近的世界粮食计划署中心等待。
She was there to get Plumpy, a dense peanut-based food provided to starving children.
她去那里是为了获得Plumpy，这是一种以花生为基础的密实的食物，提供给饥饿的儿童。
The UN agency said more than a million people in southern Madagascar currently need help from the WFP.
该联合国机构表示，马达加斯加南部目前有100多万人需要世界粮食计划署的帮助。
Holding her four-year-old son Avoraza by his thin arm, she said, "There are seven, so there wasn't enough food. The Plumpy wasn't enough for him."
她抓着四岁的儿子阿沃拉扎瘦细的胳膊说：“我有七个孩子，所以食物不够。Plumpy对他来说是不够的。”
Like many others in the area, Tarira and her family have sometimes eaten a local plant called raketa.
像该地区的其他许多人一样，塔里拉和她的家人有时会吃当地的一种名为raketa的植物。
The plant grows in the wild but provides few valuable nutrients, she said, adding that eating it can cause stomach pain.
她说，这种植物生长在野外，但它提供的有价值的营养物质很少，她还说，吃了它会导致胃痛。
Madagascar is the fourth-largest island on Earth and it contains one of the planet's most diverse ecosystems.
马达加斯加是地球上第四大岛屿，它拥有地球上最多样化的生态系统之一。
It has thousands of species of colorful plants and wild animals.
它有成千上万种五颜六色的植物和野生动物。
But, it is not all a natural, green paradise.
但是，它并不完全是一个自然的、绿色的天堂。
Especially in the south, the environmental reality on the island has changed.
特别是在南部，岛上的环境现实已经发生了变化。
"We used to call Madagascar the green island, but sadly now it is more of a red island," said Soja Lahimaro Tsimandilatse, governor of the southern Androy area.
安德洛伊南部地区的省长索贾·拉希马洛·齐曼德拉茨说：“我们过去称马达加斯加为绿色岛屿，但遗憾的是，现在它更像是一个红色岛屿。”
The food crisis in southern Madagascar grew over several years.
马达加斯加南部的粮食危机在过去几年里不断加剧。
Officials and aid organizations point to a mix of causes: drought, deforestation, other environmental damage, as well as poverty, COVID-19 and population growth.
官员和援助组织指出了多种原因：干旱、森林砍伐、其他环境破坏，以及贫困、新冠疫情和人口增长。
Madagascar is home to 30 million people.
马达加斯加有3000万人口。
It has always been a place of extreme weather.
这个地方一直都是极端天气。
But scientists say climate change and its fast-increasing temperatures are worsening the situation quickly.
但科学家们表示，气候变化及其快速上升的气温正在迅速使情况恶化。
At the height of the food crisis in the south, the WFP warned the island was at risk of seeing "the world's first climate change famine."
在南部粮食危机最严重的时候，世界粮食计划署警告称，该岛有可能出现“世界上第一次气候变化饥荒”。
Theodore Mbainaissem runs WFP operations in southern Madagascar.
Theodore Mbainaissem负责世界粮食计划署在马达加斯加南部的业务。
He said there are no usual weather patterns any longer.
他说，不再有平常的天气模式了。
Villagers can no longer predict the best time to plant or harvest.
村民们再也不能预测种植或收获的最佳时间。
He said the WFP, other aid organizations and local government have worked to limit the food crisis.
他说，世界粮食计划署、其他援助组织和当地政府一直在努力限制粮食危机。
He said severe malnutrition among children had dropped from about 30 percent a few months ago to about 5 percent now.
他说，儿童严重营养不良的比例已经从几个月前的约30%下降到现在的约5%。
"When you look in the villages, you see children running left and right. That wasn't the case before," he said.
他说：“当你在村子里看的时候，你会看到孩子们跑来跑去。以前不是这样的”。
Local communities are now working on forward-looking projects like an effort to protect hills of sand along the coastal town of Faux Cap.
当地社区现在正致力于前瞻性项目，比如努力保护沿海小镇Faux Cap沿线的沙丘。
But in rural areas where people live in poverty, the crisis grows.
但在生活贫困的农村地区，危机在加剧。
Felix Fitiavantsoa was burning down a wooded area to start farming.
Felix Fitiavantsoa烧毁了一片林区用作农田。
He and his new wife had to eat.
他和他的新婚妻子必须得吃饭。
His main worry was whether it would finally rain so he could get started.
他主要担心的是天是否会下雨，下雨的话他就可以开始耕种了。
"If there's no rain, I don't know what we'll do. We'll pray to God," he said.
他说：“如果不下雨，我不知道我们该怎么办。我们将会向上帝祈祷”。
I'm Susan Shand.
苏珊·尚德为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
