Baobabs in Madagascar
Copyright© Rod Waddington, via flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0
Madagascar Natural paradise in challenging circumstances
However, Madagascar's people are faced with huge challenges. Decades of economic problems, deficits in the field of governance and widespread corruption have led to a situation which is now, in some areas, disastrous. Madagascar is among the world's least developed countries. More than three quarters of the people live in extreme poverty.
Large parts of this natural paradise have already been destroyed as a result of human intervention. The island used to be almost entirely covered by rainforest, but only a fraction of that forest has survived.
Madagascar is also particularly vulnerable to natural disasters such as cyclones, floods and droughts. They often destroy harvests and cause considerable damage to the country's infrastructure, threatening people's livelihoods.
Hunger crisis in the south
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), some 1.31 million people in Madagascar are affected by food insecurity and malnutrition (as at end of 2021) and are in need of humanitarian aid. Some 28,000 people are experiencing famine-like conditions.
Families are suffering and people are already dying from severe hunger. This is not because of war or conflict, this is because of climate change. This is an area of the world that has contributed nothing to climate change, but now, they're the ones paying the highest price.
German development cooperation with Madagascar
Sustainable vanilla cultivation in Madagascar
Germany supports the efforts of the people of Madagascar to make use of local development potential. German development cooperation with Madagascar began in 1962. In response to a coup in 2009, Germany – along with the European Union and all EU member states – suspended its intergovernmental cooperation with Madagascar. Following the coup, Germany's activities were limited to projects that directly benefited people locally.
In response to the current hunger crisis, the Federal Foreign Office has provided humanitarian assistance. The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has increased its activities in the southern region with a view to increasing the resilience of local communities and addressing the structural causes of the crisis. To that end, the BMZ has made available 3 million euros for the work of the World Food Programme in Madagascar. Among other things, the funding is to go towards school meals for more than 120,000 primary school pupils. In addition, 5.8 million euros is being provided for a project for the adaptation of agricultural value chains to climate change. Among other things, support will be provided for a harvest loss relief fund and for the creation of new income opportunities.
Core areas of cooperation
Germany's development cooperation with Madagascar focuses on the following core areas:
- Protecting life on Earth – the environment and natural resources
Areas of intervention: Biodiversity; forests - Sustainable agriculture and food systems
Areas of intervention: Food and nutrition security; agriculture - Responsibility for our planet – climate and energy
Area of intervention: Renewable energy and energy efficiency
The BMZ also supports activities in the field of good governance. Among other things, it funds projects for pro-poor municipal development through increased decentralisation, higher municipal revenues, local infrastructure development and anti-corruption.
SDG trends for Madagascar
- On track or maintaining SDG achievement
- Moderately improving
- Stagnating
- Decreasing
- Trend information unavailable