Palms for Life Fund - Priority Countries

madagascar

Population: 18 million
Gross National Income per capita: US$300
Under 5 mortality rate (per thousand): 123
Infant mortality rate (per thousand): 76
Maternal mortality rate (per 100,000): 550 (3,800 mothers in 2004)
Adult literacy rate: 71
Male 76
Female 65
Net primary school enrollment/attendance rate: 76

Madagascar

Madagascar is classified as a least developed country as well as a low-income, food-deficit country. The World Bank estimates that 70 percent of Malagasy live on less than $1 per day. Poverty is concentrated in the rural areas where 80 percent of the population is poor versus 54 percent of the urban population. Therefore, rural development is the primary focus of poverty reduction efforts.

It is estimated that close to 87 percent of the population has no access to adequate sanitation services. In 2004, the rate of access to potable water in rural areas was 14 percent (66 percent in urban areas) and the rate of access to sanitation services was 8 percent (26 percent in urban areas).

Madagascar is prone to natural disasters. Over the past 35 years, at least 46 natural disasters, including cyclones, drought, epidemics, floods, famines and locust infestations, have been reported, affecting more than 11 million people altogether.

Malnutrition represents a major public health problem in Madagascar because of insufficient health care, poverty and food insecurity affecting 65 percent of the population, especially in the rural areas. Food represents the main expenditure in households — 57.5 percent in 2002. Some 50 percent of children under three years of age suffer retarded growth due to a chronically inadequate diet and 14 percent suffer from acute malnutrition. This situation is further exacerbated during the lean season. The maternal mortality rate is alarmingly high and number of births attended by qualified health staff was 24 percent in 2003.

The rate of HIV/AIDS infection is 1.1 percent. There are about 35,000 children orphaned from HIV/AIDS. Since 2004, the government has focused on reinforcing and supporting local responses by community-based organizations.

About 47 percent of Madagascar’s population is illiterate. There are serious social and cultural factors that determine the poor attention given to education which is not a priority for most families. Only 5 percent of household budgets are spent for schooling.

One of the factors limiting access to education is the irregular distribution of schools in the country. Many of them are difficult to reach and children who make it to school arrive tired and hungry.

Palms for Life Fund will focus its investment in educational activities: schoolfeeding to encourage attendance and improve school performance, education of mothers about improved child care practices, HIV/AIDS prevention, capacity building of local farmers’ organizations to ensure more effective participation, and adult functional literacy to support agricultural production.

Madagascar News Sources

Mad'Online

Le Quotidien

L'Express de Madagascar

MIDI Madagascar

Madagascar Tribune

Sources:
World Food Programme – Madagascar Country Program 2005-2009
UNICEF: The State of the World’s Children 2006
African Development Bank: Country Strategy Paper 2005-2009

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