Jean-Marc Collienne, a journalist with Réunion la 1ère TV channel and chairperson of the Kéré Association, initiated the very strong mobilisation in Reunion Island for inhabitants in the south of Madagascar who are severely affected this year by extremely intense drought. A partner of GRET for Opération Kéré, he tells us about the reasons that led him to become invested in this cause and about his vision for the long term.
Why did you defend this cause?
When working on a report in 2006 about a Reunionese man who travelled to the south of Madagascar in search of the village his father left to emigrate to Reunion Island in the 1920s, we first discovered kéré. This is the Malagasy term used by inhabitants in the Androy region, in the south of country, to designate the famine that regularly affects this region, caused in particular by lack of rain, constant wind that dries the soil and deforestation, and exacerbated by climate change.
The emotion generated at the time by the first images of this famine was so strong in Reunion Island that we organised the first Operation Kéré, which made it possible, with collaboration from GRET, to construct 64 water tanks and two rainwater basins, and to restore eleven old water basins in order to store enough water to get through the long months without rainfall.
In 2020, despite the presence of these water tanks, the drought is so severe that some inhabitants in the Androy region, who were already vulnerable, died from hunger and thirst. Given the extreme gravity of the situation, we launched a new Operation Kéré with GRET to act urgently over the medium term for populations in the south of Madagascar.
How do you explain the great mobilisation in Reunion Island for people in the south of Madagascar?
People in Reunion Island realised others were dying from hunger just 1,000 km away, in a region they are strongly attached to. The first inhabitants of Reunion Island actually came from the south of Madagascar. Between 1920 and 1930, several thousand inhabitants from the Androy region were hired to work in the sugar cane fields on the island. A lot of people in Reunion Island, sometimes unknowingly, have a father or grandfather who came from this region that is currently experiencing famine.
This historic tie is amplified by the fact that, although Reunion Island is very green, climate change is being increasingly felt by the population. These two factors have made Reunionese people feel genuinely concerned for their neighbours in Androy.
What role do you see the Kéré Association playing over the long term?
The Kéré Association intends to continue funding emergency aid (distribution of food and water), and to contribute to the implementation of medium- and long-term solutions to avoid these periods of famine recurring in the region. After the emergency, the objective is to support GRET projects, as the organisation is very well established in the south of Madagascar, particularly in terms of water supply, agroecology and development of drought-resistant crops.
Donations to the operation are used to avoid the situation worsening and prevent people from dying of hunger, but also to prevent this situation from re-occurring, by developing climate resilience and food security for communities.
