Cattlea Amarille

BSA 1

Developing Country of Choice : Madagascar

Poverty, in some countries, seems to be embedded in their system. It seems to have no solution. Just
like in the case of Madagascar. The said country has long been suffering from the wrath of extreme
underdevelopment. Being referred to as one of the poorest countries in the world, its population of
about 28 million has the highest poverty rates.

Madagascar's growth remains structurally constrained by the following reasons : inadequate human
capital and infrastructure, a high prevalence of informality, and self-subsistence agriculture, as well as
governance and institutional weaknesses. Furthermore, it is severely impacted by climate change.

Later in this study we will tackle the indicators of development including health, education, and
standards of living.

Shown below are the objectives that will serve as our guide and that we will hopefully learn at the end
of this study.

1. Why is Madagascar consistent with being one of the poorest countries in the world?

2. What could be the possible solutions to the development problems of Madagascar?

3. Could Madagascar Join the League of Developed countries someday?

At this juncture, we will be examining be Gross National Income of Madagascar to gain insights about its
development level.

Most countries are actually being measured through their GNI per Capita as a way of examining their
development levels. That being said, we will see in the table below the GNI comparison of the Said
countries especially that of Madagascar which is our subject of the Study. It is clear that Madagascar is
categorized in the Low Income Classification of economies in the most recent World Bank classification
of economies, which places economies with GNI per capita of less than $1,085 as low income countries,
lower middle income countries with a GNI of $1086 to $4254.
Table 1 : The GNI per Capita of Madagascar and its neighboring countries.

The gross national income of Madagascar proves their poverty level. In fact, it has the lowest GNI among
the countries in the world. In the data shown, it has a GNI per Capita of 500USD slightly higher than
Mozambique and slightly lower than Malawi.

Indicators of Development: Health, Education, and Standards of living.

Development is Multidimensional, therefore it is not enough to examine its Gross National Income per
Capita to determine its development level. In this section we will thoroughly examine the Health,
Education and Standards of living of the country Madagascar.

First, Its Standards of Living which can be measured through Purchasing Power Parity.
The table shows that Madagascar has a very low Purchasing Power Parity. Although it is gradually
increasing over time, through the increase rate per year is inconsistent, it is not an indicative of a
growing or a nation with a potential of growth. From 1031 4 in 2018 to 1205.9 in 2022.

What does a low Purchasing Power Parity Signify?

- a low or a increase in the purchasing power parity of a country like Madagascar results to Inflation and
we all know it is also a significant contributing factor to the overall poverty of a country hence, the
Poverty level of Madagascar.

Indicators of Health : Life Expectancy at Birth, Undernourishment rate and Crude birth rate.
The table shows that Madagascar has a life expectancy of 67.93% , Undernourishment rate of 48.5% and
a crude birth rate of 31.702 births per 1000 people. In comparison to all countries around the world,
these rates are lower which proves the point that Madagascar is a fever developing and is among the
poorest of the poor nations.

If we look at the table, we can conclude that the four countries in Comparison to each other have
relatively similar rates in all aspects of health. All countries given above are developing and in fact,
belong to the poorest of the poor. Therefore, we can say that the average health status of a certain
country like Madagascar is correlated to its poverty level. The poorer a country is, the lower ite health
Index among the people in all aspects.
Education : Measuring the Average literacy rate of people in Madagascar For the Last five years.

As we can see in the table, Madagascar has a very inconsistent rate of growth in terms of Literacy rate.
Although it has actually increased slightly recently, still a huge portion of its population belongs to
illiterate group.

Why is literacy in Madagascar so Low? The answer is very obvious --- because of their poverty rate. The
higher the poverty rate, the lower its literacy rate. Most poor people will see school as burden and not a
learning process because if its cost that poor people can't afford this hindering them from enrolling to
school. This in turn would result higher illiteracy rate. Thus, poverty and literacy rate ate significantly
correlated to each others.

Human Development Index of Madagascar in the last 8 years a available in Data.

Index of Human Development (0 - 1)

We offer statistics for Madagascar from 2000 to 2020 for that indicator. Madagascar scored 0.496 points
on average for that time period, with a minimum of 0.456 points in 2000 and a maximum of 0.528 points
in 2020. The most recent value is 0.528 points from 2020.
GDP Composition of Madagascar

In Depth Study of One of the Major Development Issues in Madagascar : Environmental Degradation

Environmental deterioration is severe in Madagascar. Around 90% of Madagascar's woods may no

longer exist, while 25–30% of the nation burns annually due to agricultural fires. Soil erosion reduces the
nation's ability to produce food and further depresses rural people. The future economic development
of Madagascar depends on preserving the remaining wildlands and wildlife. We all know how important
our natural sources are especially our forest in providing the needs of the people as well as to achieve
sustainable development. Due to the Rampant deforestation in Madagascar, its forest are damaged,
natural resources are slowly depleted and the needs of the people that only the nature can provide is
inadequate. Lastly, it will also pose danger not just only to the present generation but also to the future
who will be needing these resources so they won't suffer so much especially from inadequacy and
poverty.
Overview of Madagascar's Development over the years.

When it comes to prospects of development, Madagascar has been Continued to be hampered by its
low growth potential and vulnerability to frequent and deep crisis. It is obviously seen in the data above
in terms of GNI per Capita, Education, Standards of living and Health. All of the said aspects and
components of Development Level have been very really low in the said country. Therefore, we can say
that Madagascar has not made an impactful development over the years. Furthermore, it is being shown
in the Human Development Index. It has even been deemed as the Lowest in Madagascar due to the
fact that Madagascar has problems in Chronic malnutrition, with a high illiteracy rate. Its protection
system has also been weak ever since which means that Madagascar really struggles to achieve
economic growth. Furthermore, it is being said that more than two million people will likely experience
high levels of acute food insecurity under the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system
used by international organizations to determine food security risks, with 284,600 people facing an
emergency although Madagascar's economy is estimated to grow 4.3% in 2023, with growth rates
anticipated to hover around 5% over the medium term, despite the numerous economic risks and
difficulties. Increased international aid and private sector investment are now possible in Madagascar
thanks to a relatively political environment stabilization, which will enable the nation to manage the
aforementioned economic risks and utilize its abundant natural resources.

What are the development Policies that are going to be beneficial to the further future development in
Madagascar?

Economic Development and Program Implementation in 1996 and 1997 - This policy emphasizes the
continued pursuit of prudent financial policies and progress in terms of structural reforms which is being
manifested in the increase of domestic savings and investment in Madagascar.

Economic Policies in 1998 - This Policy outlined a faster pace for structural reforms, placed a focus on
institutional upgrades aimed at bolstering public finances, and intended to create a regulatory
environment that would attract investors and promote resource utilization efficiency.

Fiscal Policy, Public Finance Reform, and Decentralization - This strategy entails raising both the
quantity and quality of spending while continuously and considerably raising income. This policy also
depends on ongoing efforts to strengthen tax and customs administration and increase the effectiveness
of the tax system in order to increase the ratio of tax revenue to GDP by 3 percentage points over the
course of the program and to improve the government's ability to provide public services.