Yearbook 2004
Madagascar. After political turmoil throughout 2002, Madagascar had strong economic growth in 2003 of almost 10%. However, this development was reversed when, in early 2004, the country was hit by two cyclones, of which the worst – called Gafilo – claimed a few hundred human lives and suffered severe material damage. The total population in Madagascar is 27,691,029 people in 2020. Madagascar was estimated to have a loss of revenue of over US $ 100 million only in reduced exports of vanilla and rice. The natural disaster was one of the worst in the country in 20 years. to the fact that inflation gained new momentum after falling sharply in 2003. When prices for many basic commodities doubled, unrest erupted, mainly in the capital Antananarivo.
During June and July, at least 17 grenade attacks were also carried out against prominent politicians and other public figures. The government was also placed under pressure from reserve officers who demanded payment for supporting President Marc Ravalomanana during the 2002 riots.
In October, Madagascar became the 15th country to qualify for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s debt relief program for heavily indebted poor countries. The country can thus get half its foreign debt of USD 3.8 billion written off.
In 2013, the country suffered heavy losses in agriculture as a result of migratory grasshoppers. It did not have pesticides to deal with and in 2014 it was reported that around 40% of food production in the southern part of the country was lost as a result of the problem. Madagascar requested the FAO for assistance in resolving the problem.
In May 2015, Parliament voted to remove the president from his post because of “constitutional violations and general incompetence”. The Constitutional Court subsequently handed down an order that overturned the decision on the grounds that the allegations were unfounded and therefore could not be used to remove the president.
The country remains one of the world’s poorest. In March 2015, UNICEF released a report documenting that 47% of the country’s children suffered from chronic malnutrition. See cellphoneexplorer.com for discovery trip to Madagascar.
Poverty meant that cattle theft continued to be a major problem and the authorities’ handling of it was bloody and incompetent. In mid-August, the military carried out Operation Fahalemana 2015 to combat cattle theft. It led to armed clashes between suspected cattle thieves and security forces with killers on both sides. Several suspected cattle thieves were summarily executed by the military. At the end of the month, eight soldiers and 15 suspected cattle thieves were killed in Ankazoabo-Sud. Some days later, 1 policeman, 3 villagers and 14 suspected cattle thieves were killed in Ivahona. Witnesses reported that security forces attacked villages believed to house cattle thieves and summarily executed random residents. The killings were not subsequently investigated and no one was brought to justice.
After a number of weeks of political conflict, it was announced in April 2016 that Prime Minister Ravelonarivo and his government resigned. It was immediately resigned to the prime minister, but the president then appointed Olivier Mahafaly Solonandrasana as new prime minister, and Ravelonarivo then resigned. It was not clear what the conflict between President and Ravelonarivo was.
In August 2017, the country was affected by lung plague. Up to November, there were up to 2000 cases registered and up to 200 deaths. However, the epidemic peaked at the beginning of October and the number of infected people then declined rapidly.