Madagascar - Poverty assessment (Vol. 1 of 2) : Abstract, executive summary, participatory poverty assessment summary, methodology

Report No. 14044-MAG Madagascar Poverty Assessment (In Two Volumes) Volume l: Abstract, Executive Summary, Participatory Poverty Assessment Summary, Methodology June 28, 1996 Population and Human Resources Division Central Africa and Indian Ocean Department Africa Region V YA . q:4 4 ~%X_ 4 t4 ~~~/ ,~~~~~~ -~~~I  CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS Currency Unit: Malagasy Franc (FMG) Average Exchange Rate 1992: US$1.00 = 1864 FMG 1993: US$ 1.00 = 1914 FMG 1994: US$ 1.00 = 3871 FMG 1995: US$1.00 = 4266 FMG MALAGASY FISCAL YEAR Januiiaty I - Decenmbet 31 WEIGHTS AND MEASURES Metr ic Sytenm Briti.sh/U(4S Equh'alents I meter (m) 3.28 feet 1 square meter (sq. m) 10.76 square feet I kilometer (km) 0.62 mile I square kilometer (sq. km) = 0.39 square mile I ton (metric) 2204.6 pounds  Table of Contents Madagascar Poverty Assessment Volume I Abstract ................................i Executive Summary ................................I Participatory Poverty Assessment Summary .............................. 22 Methodology .............................. 43  I  ABSTRACT The world over, to be poor is to be deprived: deprived of good health, adequate nutrition, rudimentary housing, education, and basic amenities of life. In Madagascar, the plight of the poor is made worse by little evidence that their prospects will improve. In fact, while in many developing countries the incidence of poverty has dramatically declined over the past 30-40 years, it has instead increased in Madagascar. The availability of poverty related data from a nationally representative household survey carried out in 1993-94 and statistical analyses carried out during 1994-1995 has allowed an in-depth analysis of the poverty situation in Madagascar that is the basis of this report. Depending on how it is defined, poverty now affects between 60 and 70 percent of the population. In addition, for the poor and nonpoor alike, most socio-economic indicators have either failed to improve, or have declined. Madagascar is one of the few countries in the world where children will be less well educated than their parents. The main reason for the evolution of poverty in Madagascar and its spread to 7 out of 10 people is the country's successive governments' hesitation to adopt development policies that, in neighboring Mauritius, or in more distant Uganda, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, have been so successful in enabling their economies to take off. Unless similar policies are pursued in Madagascar, the country will be unable to reverse trends persisting for the past three decades in which the population grew faster than GDP, the volume of resources allocated to health and education declined in relation to the population's needs, and there have been fewer and fewer opportunities for the poor--or the population at large for that matter--to improve their living standards. Following Madagascar's peaceful transition to a democratic regime in the early 1990s, there were great expectations that the country would adopt more effective development policies. This breakthrough has not materialized and the conditions necessary to stop poverty from spreading and the population's living standards from declining further have yet to be established. This situation is all the more tragic because Madagascar has all the conditions that elsewhere, with effective development policies, have been successful in substantially reducing poverty in less than a generation.   Executive Summary  NatiUnal Piverly InlidenCe SeClal Indicaters by Peverf Grhup Poor Extreme Poor Extreme Poor Poor Mon-poor All Madagascar ...... 70% 59% Household size (persons) .................................. 5.6 4.8 4.0 4.9 Urban ...... 47% 35% Number of children under age 14 .................................. 2.8 2.1 1.4 2.2 Rural ...... 77% 66% % household heads completing secondary school ........... 1.3 3.6 10.6 5.0 Severe stunting (% children 3-60 months) ................... 32.4 31.4 25.9 30.3 Gini index ...... 44 Electricity (% using) .................................. 1.7 5.4 20.3 8.9 Source: EPM Source: EPNI Prverty bv Hloom PeSulatIe Incidence Deptlh Total population ................ 12.4 million Antananarivo ....... 64% 27 Population growvth rate . 2.8% annually Fianarantsoa ....... 74% 36 Population share: Rural .79% Toamasina ....... 74% 36 Urban ....21% Mahajanga ....... 67% 28 Toliara ........ 80% .45 Source. EP Antsiranana ....... 66% 27 Madagascar .. 70% 33 GresS and Net EmNrllmelt Badl, 1994 ISource: EPMf Total Poorest 20% Richest 20% Nealth Gr EWdinW lid Primarv ...... 83 48 113 Rural ...... 73 44 92 Mortality rates Urban ... 126 107 138 Secondarv ...... 18 2 53 Infant mortality rate 1970 ............ 181 Rural .9 1 23 1993 ............ 93 Urban .48 9 82 Sub-Saharan Africa ....... 93 Low-income countries ... 64 le U Primarv ...... 48 27 72 Child mortality ratc 1993 .............. 164 Rural .42 25 57 Sub-Saharan Africa ...... 172 Urban .73 60 89 Low-income countries .. 103 Secondary .7 0 24 Rural .4....4 0 12 Urban . 19 0 35 Source: WDR 1995 Source: EPM  lnlidene of Public EucaUsm Exehlidbre Incidence d Public lean Exluedikmrs Education spending bbnehftinu: Health spemdin h benldian: the poorest 20% the richest 20% the poorest 20% the richest 20% Year of the population (