Madagascar
OVERVIEW
USAID has been working for over 18 years to help the people of Madagascar accomplish their development goals in the face of ongoing challenges. The Government of Madagascar is ambitiously tackling these challenges through its Madagascar Action Plan, which outlines eight commitments to advance the development of Madagascar. Most of these commitments are directly supported by USAID. The plan and its implementation resulted in Madagascar being awarded funding through the Millennium Challenge Account.
PROGRAMS
GOVERNING JUSTLY AND DEMOCRATICALLY
USAID supports the Government of Madagascar's anti-corruption efforts, specifically the newly established, independent, anti-corruption agency, Bureau Independent Anti-Corruption. Since its inception, the agency has steadily improved its ability to manage corruption complaints and conduct investigations.
INVESTING IN PEOPLE: HEALTH
USAID works to increase the quality of health services, promote maternal and child health and nutrition, and reduce diseases, particularly malaria and HIV/AIDS. Targeted efforts resulted in 50 percent greater immunization coverage throughout the country. In 2006, Madagascar was selected to participate in the President's Malaria Initiative. Ninety percent of Malagasy children now sleep under insecticide-treated bednets each night, as a result of a USAID campaign to protect children from malaria. Comprehensive programns in family planning are also having an impact: 24 percent of women report using contraceptives in 2008, up from 18.8 percent in 2004, with the greatest use in targeted rural areas.
INVESTING IN PEOPLE: EDUCATION
Three out of four Malagasy people live in rural areas, many of which are extremely remote and inaccessible. In coordination with the Malagasy Ministry of Education, USAID has helped to introduce distance learning programs, primarily interactive radio instruction in schools, to train teachers, parents, and school associations in education techniques and tools. As of 2008, 2,800 teachers and pedagogical counselors had been trained to benefit from distance instruction-which translates to more teachers who are qualified and empowered to teach the next generation.
ECONOMIC GROWTH
USAID seeks to accelerate economic growth by improving agricultural productivity and managing natural resources sustainably. These interdependent goals are advanced using a cutting-edge approach that links environmental conservation and natural resource management to the wellbeing of the Malagasy people. Specifically, USAID encourages adaptation of proven technologies, farming systems, and agricultural inputs; private sector support of farmer associations to achieve financial and organizational sustainability; and increased productivity and quality to boost the competitiveness of farmer associations to respond to market requirements. In 2007, USAID promoted 13 new agricultural techniques to over 49,000 farmers. To encourage and reward increased productivity, USAID activities worked to connect priority crops to markets. By the end of 2007, beneficiaries began exporting non-traditional agricultural products including red rice, litchi, and specialty coffee.
The key feature of the economic growth program is sound environmental conservation policy and activities. Madagascar has an impressive number of habitats and species that are found nowhere else on Earth. But these rare biological treasures are significantly threatened due to rural poverty and unsustainable exploitation. USAID is building on the implementation of the Madagascar Protected Areas System to extend the protected network from 1.7 million to 6 million hectares. USAID also supports the improvement of the management and policies of existing protected areas, provides training to ensure community co-management of protected areas, develops economically viable production forests, informs science and data gathering through monitoring forest cover change and zoning, and gains international cooperation through new conservation financing mechanisms including carbon credits, biodiversity offsets, and ecotourism concessions.
Back to Top ^
|
