Madagascar

In 1896 the island of Madagascar lost its status as an independent kingdom to French colonialism. Independence was reinstituted in 1960, launching almost two decades of one-party rule. In the mid1990s, Madagascar rejected socialism and began a process of privatization and liberalization by following the guidelines of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In 2001, during a hotly-contested presidential election, half the country threatened to secede. Stability was restored when the High Constitutional Court declared a winner in April 2002.

With just over five percent arable land, more than 80 percent of the work force is engaged in agriculture and fishing. In recent years, the economy has become more diversified, and revenue from apparel industry exports is increasing. Natural resources include: graphite, chromite, coal, bauxite, salt, quartz, tar sands, semiprecious stones, mica, fish, and hydropower. With a per capita income of $900, Madagascar is the 18th poorest country in the world. Half of the population lives below the poverty line, and 37 percent of the people are severely undernourished. The United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Reports rank Madagascar 146 of 232 countries on overall quality of life issues.

With a total area of 587,040 square kilometers, Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world. Surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Republic of Madagascar has a coastline of 4,828 kilometers. A narrow coastal plain gives way to high plateau and mountains in the center of the island. Elevations range from sea level to 2,876 meters at Maromokotro in the northeast. Madagascar's climate is varied; it is tropical along the coast but changing to temperate in inland areas and to arid in the south. Madagascar is subject to periodic cyclones, drought, and locust infestations.

Poverty plays a major role in the lives of many Malagasy. Some 55 percent of the population lack sustained access to safe drinking water, and 67 percent lack access to improved sanitation. Consequently, Madagascar's population of 18,595,469 faces a high risk of contracting food and waterborne diseases that include bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, [Page 1076]hepatitis A, and typhoid fever and schistosomiasis, a water contact disease. In some areas, Malagasy are at high risk of contracting vectorborne diseases such as malaria and plague. There is also growing concern about HIV/AIDS, which affects 140,000 Malagasy. Social indicators such as infant mortality (75.21 deaths per 1,000 live births), life expectancy (57.34 years), fertility rate (5.4 children per female), and literacy rate (68.9 percent) further reveal the effect that poverty has on the population.

Madagascar is experiencing soil erosion in response to overgrazing and to deforestation, which is occurring at a rate of 0.9 percent per year. Fires intentionally set to clear land for agriculture, particularly for use as rice fields, have done major damage to the environment. Ecologically valuable timber has been stripped from the rain forests and sold, sometimes earning as much as $2,000 a ton. Other trees are used in the production of charcoal. Desertification is also a growing problem, and surface water has been contaminated from the dumping of raw sewage and organic wastes.

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