Poverty and Food Security in The Republic of Madagascar .
The Republic of Madagascar is a country that is located on an island off the coast of south east Africa in the Indian Ocean. It is known to be the fourth largest island in the world. Madagascar is known for its beautiful atmosphere and diversity of nature. Madagascar was previously a French colony until the island gained it's independence in the 1960's. From a relatively small population, the community has recently grown to roughly 22 million people, of which many are below the poverty line. The islands population is reliant upon farming and cattle, rice, coffee, vanilla and seafood exports in order to gain economic standings. A factor that decreases productivity in farming in this country is its susceptibility to natural disasters such as flooding, cyclones and droughts. An estimated 5 million people live in areas of the island that frequently suffer from these particular disasters.
Level of Poverty in Madagascar.
Madagascar is seen as a low income level developing country. It is estimated that 72 percent of the 22 million inhabitants of Madagascar live below the national poverty line. In the past half century, income per capita has fallen by 40 percent while the population keeps steadily increasing, which emphasizes pressure on the overall economic standings of Madagascar as a nation. Because of the drastic rates of poverty, malnutrition, access to clean drinking water and lack of basic health care services among the Malagasy people 84 children out of every thousand will die before reaching the age of five. With over 80 percent of Madagascar's inhabitants living in rural areas, majority of those people suffer to have little to no access of basic transportation, education or any type of health care. When comparing urban areas to rural areas, it has been calculated that 76 percent of people in rural areas are below the poverty line and 52 percent of people living in the urbanized areas of the island are below the national poverty line.
