Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs
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These briefs report on ongoing operational, economic, and sector work carried out by the World Bank and its member governments in the Africa Region.
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Publication
Madagascar - Building Leadership and Management Capacity through the Rapid Results Approach
( 2008-06)In 2002 Madagascar's new government under President Mark Ravolamana recognized the urgency of addressing the peoples' high expectations for concrete economic and social improvements. While it rushed to put the economy back on track and improve the quality of life, its vision and strategy for reform was no match for the realities on the ground. By the time the Ravolamanana government assumed power in 2002, GDP had declined by 13 percent, key public services were discontinued, and the poverty rate soared from 69 percent in 2001 to 80 percent. There was widespread joblessness and high inflation. Within the government, there was little capacity for policy planning or monitoring and evaluation in most sectors. Collaboration was weak, with no existing mechanism to allow for a joint ministerial response to problems that cut across sectors. In February 2005, when the government launched its first rapid results pilot, the goal was to mitigate the effects of a significant shortfall in rice production, importation, and distribution. The crisis was solved by a combination of policy-based and technical interventions. Rice production increased significantly in two of the four targeted regions when the rapid results approach (RRA) was applied. In the region of Boeny, production went from 2.5 tons per hectare in 2004 to 4 tons per hectare in 2005, and in the region of Menabe, it increased from 22,000 tons to 37,000 tons. -
Publication
The Tourism Sector in Madagascar
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-05)Madagascar has an impressive array of biodiversity, natural beauty and cultural resources to support tourism. The world's fourth largest island, Madagascar is home to many species found nowhere else on the planet, among them 30 species of lemur - currently the main tourist attraction. Madagascar's nearly 5,000 km of coastline is coupled with a continental shelf equal to 20 percent of the island's land area which presents numerous opportunities for developing resort-based tourism to complement eco-tourism. -
Publication
Madagascar : Promoting Livestock Production
( 2001-04)The note outlines the successful outcomes of the Livestock Adjustment and Investment Project in Madagascar, whose main objective was to promote livestock production for domestic consumption, and exports. A major project impact, i.e., the Ministry of Livestock's shift out of veterinary practice, - feed mill operation, fodder production, input supply, and breed improvement - was conducive to service contracts, and the establishment of a private veterinary profession, which significantly improved performance, as confirmed by subsequent reviews. Moreover, extension programs were successfully developed in support of farmers' associations, improved crop varieties were adopted, and significant progress was made with genetic improvement, and research and development. Lessons reinforce the importance of government commitment towards divestiture, particularly concerning privatization, emphasizing that the absence of commitment to policy adjustment, should deter project implementation. More importantly, policy reforms should complement institutional development and investments, where good roads and credit access are particularly important for rural, and private development, while investments in these areas may be sub-optimal in Bank lending. -
Publication
Madagascar - A Developmental Approach to Community-Based School Management
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2001-01)Over the past seven years, the Government of Madagascar has focused on involving communities in controlling their own primary schools. With the support of the World Bank, the Ministry of Education has developed and implemented principles, strategies, and procedures that move towards this objective. Implementation is addressed in the framework of the involvement of village communities not only in the rehabilitation, construction, and maintenance of primary schools, but also in their management and supervision. Collaboration between the Government and the Bank was based on five key guiding principles: a) the use of existing structures; b) needs are determined at the school level; c) a 'systemic' view or perspective; d) a working contract; and e) a holistic approach to problem-solving and management. The evaluation of school contracts was carried out by the ministry through the services of the district office staff. On the basis of the evaluation, at the end of each school year the ministry prepares a critical review of the strategy effectiveness as well as a program to update and improve it, in order to improve the year's program and approach. -
Publication
Madagascar - A Decade of Reform and Innovation in Higher Education Institutional Capacity-Building in a Developmental Perspective
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2000-05)Higher education in Madagascar was in crisis in the early 1990s. Campuses were taken over by squatters and vandals. Little if any teaching was taking place because senior members of universities could not enter buildings. The quality of education was extremely low, with little or no research conducted, the staff demoralized, and the students alienated. Enrollment rose above 44,000 due to "eternal students" who were paid a grant for as long as they stayed in university. Students repeated course years as many as five times. The internal efficiency of institutions was approximately 30 percent, and external efficiency was less than 10 percent in many faculties and departments. Curricula and teaching methods were outdated and there was no system for evaluating of the institutions' performance. A large portion of the public financing was being wasted. Yet higher education was recognized by the government and the World Bank as being indispensable for generating the human resources needed for economic development and poverty alleviation. This article traces the development of a strategic partnership in higher education between the Government of Madagascar, the World Bank and other donors over a period of almost ten years. -
Publication
Empowering Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa : Best Practices
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1995-02)This article previews a study defining "farmer empowerment" (increasing the capacities of disadvantaged people to move out of poverty). The study discusses specific country case studies (Uganda, Nambia, Cameroon, Burundi, Mali, and Madagascar) and their dealings with farmer organizations and practices. -
Publication
Improving Madagascar's Primary Education : A Focus on Schools
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1994-12)This report analyzes the results of research on primary and secondary education in Madagascar in order to identify the school-level factors which have the most influence on student learning and on whether students stay in school. Also included are crude estimates of the resources that will be needed and which might be available to invest in providing or establishing these factors by the year 2000. The study combines analyses of quantifiable issues--economic decline, population growth, the size and internal efficiency of the education system, and education financing--with more qualitative concerns--school climate, the teaching/learning process, and the socio-political and cultural context--in order to capture the multi-faceted reality that will shape the future of primary and secondary education in Madagascar. The focus is on schools. The study examines the factors that determine school effectiveness, and the conditions in schools that help children learn. Central to the study are observational case studies of 12 primary sch, 12 junior secondary (CEG), and 12 senior secondary (lycee) schools that a Technical Group from the Ministry of Education conducted in 1993/94. The results of the primary school cases are compared with a 1991 evaluation of students' achievement and the factors that contribute to that achievement and with a forthcoming study on primary school wastage.