JOHANNESBURG, 19 March (IRIN) - Madagascar's vanilla coast in the northeast has been devastated by Cyclone Indlala, the sixth storm to hit the Indian Ocean island this season.

"The region is still recovering from the impact of the devastating cyclones [Elita and Gafilo], which hit Madagascar three years ago; this year the farmers were hoping for a good harvest," said Stefanie von Westarp, spokeswoman for the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) in Madagascar. Vanilla orchids take three years to flower, so the 2006 harvest was small.

According to government estimates, about 80 percent of the country's vanilla production, Madagascar's top foreign exchange earner, has been lost to Indlala, which hit the coast on Thursday. WFP and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation said a clearer picture would emerge after an assessment in the next few days.

"People's only source of livelihood has been affected," said von Westarp, adding that strong winds in Antalaha, the main centre on the vanilla-producing coast, had done the most damage. The devastation of vanilla plantations, one of the most labour-intensive crops in the world, would have an impact on the livelihoods of entire communities.

The adjoining Maroanstetra district, about 150km southwest of Antalaha, has an estimated population 180,000 and was almost entirely flooded, said von Westarp.

Northern Madagascar, which produces a substantial quantity of rice, the country's staple food, has also been affected. The island's 17 million people consume almost 2.5 million mt of rice annually. Von Westarp said at least 195,000 people were in need of food aid before Indlala hit land.

Gianluca Ferrera, deputy director of WFP, said the food agency was trying to transport 135,000mt of food to the coastal town of Maroanstetra in the next 48 hours to 72 hours by boat. The French government had already dispatched a naval vessel and aircraft to the affected areas to deliver non-food items to assist people in need.

Tropical storms like Indlala have been compounding the pressure on already precarious food security, especially in the country's arid southern region, where a drought has affected 582,000 people. The government appealed for $242 million in international aid in February.

jk/he

IRIN news