Effects of Madagascar's Political Economy On
Helpdesk Report Effects of Madagascar’s political economy on development and environment Emilie Combaz Independent researcher and consultant in social sciences 28 February 2020 Question Based on recent literature in French and English, what are the key aspects of Madagascar’s political economy which affect inclusive, environmentally sustainable livelihoods and growth, and basic issues in sustainable human development in the country? Identify the significant barriers and, where possible, any major positive factors. Contents 1. Overview 2. State of research, knowledge, and public data 3. Key causes: a system of deeply rooted hierarchies and unstable political orders 4. Key actors: individualised elites, and a mobilised but fragmented population 5. Key dynamics: socioeconomic contradictions, democratic space, and institutional decay 6. References 1. Overview Since Madagascar’s independence in 1960, socio-political crises and their aftermaths have regularly wiped out, and even set back, the country’s macroeconomic growth and human development (Razafindrakoto, Roubaud, et al., 2017a, p. 9). GDP per capita has consequently kept decreasing since 1960, with political crises in 1972, 1991, 2001-2002, and 2009-2013, as See: Figure 1 below shows. The 2009 crisis and its repercussions were thus only the latest in a longer-term pattern of economic contractions, followed by rare moments of economic revival, which in turn are brought down by popular protests (Razafindrakoto, Roubaud, et al., 2017a, pp. 9–11). See: Figure 1. The Malagasy paradox: growth and socio-political crises, 1960-2016, source: Razafindrakoto et al., 2017a, p. 21, based on INSTAT (2014), world development indicators (2014), and authors’ calculations), https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108770231 The succession of Malagasy crises has had three main features (Razafindrakoto, Roubaud, et al., 2017a, p.
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