SDC – on location worldwide

Visit Swiss Cooperation Office websites.

Switzerland

Search:

50 Years of Development Cooperation

This publication shows how Swiss development Cooperation in Madagascar has evolved over the last 50 years within the prevailing political context, providing concrete examples and reviewing the final achievements.

Switzerland – Madagascar: a Half-Century of Partnership
Download (PDF, 3555 KB) : [de] [fr]
Order

Send page as a link | Print version

Madagascar

The SDC programme in Madagascar became a so-called "special programme" as of 2001, with the bulk of this special programme being represented by SAHA, a broad-based rural development programme designed to assist 1,200 groups of land workers and 400 communes in three major regions of Madagascar (Imerina, Betsileo and Morondava). It is being implemented by the Swiss Intercooperation Foundation, and the total number of people receiving SAHA support is estimated at 410,000. Surveys have shown the beneficial impact of SAHA on the income of approximately 50,000 families. SDC is also present in Madagascar with two other activities of its own which complement the SAHA, in the fields of decentralization and fighting corruption. The total amount committed by SDC to Madagascar stands at approximately 6.5 million CHF per year.

Madagascar is also part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). For more information about the SDC’s commitment in this Development Community, see the regional programme for Southern Africa.

Swiss International Cooperation	2011 mill. CHF	2012 mill. CHF	2013* mill. CHF

SDC
Bilateral development cooperation	4.44	2.24	1.60
Humanitarian aid	0.25	0.37	–
State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO)
Economic Cooperation and Development	–	–	–
Total SDC/SECO	4.69	2.61	1.60

Other Federal Offices
FDFA Human Security Division and Directorate of International Law	–	–	0.08
Other FDFA Divisions	–	0.07	..
The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI)	0.14	0.10	0.10
Total other Federal Offices	0.14	0.17	0.18

Cantons and municipalities	0.58	..	..

Total	5.41	2.78	1.78

* planned; total based on available data
SDC figures excluding program contributions to NGOs
.. = figures not available | – = nil or amount < 5'000 CHF

Development Cooperation: Priorities

The programme's main activities fall into the following categories:

Local economy, focusing on:

Improving household income through boosting rural production, creating rural jobs centred on economic networks and the transformation and marketing opportunities they provide;
Reduction of economic vulnerability by creating short distribution chains generating fast revenue; redistribution of growth between the development centres and vulnerable regions and social groups; strengthening of social cohesion and security;
Sustainable upgrading of natural resources and community access areas as a way of diversifying local production systems.

Local governance, focusing on:

Reinforcing institutions and structures, in particular communal services in their property ownership work, access to resources and income tax system;
Monitoring rural structuring as part of decentralization and grass-roots democracy, by empowering collective local players (socio-professional or community organizations) and improving interaction between regional and local levels;
Support for various communication and training systems to improve civic education standards with a view to developing citizens' rights.
In addition to the SDC's institutional themes such as good governance, balanced gender development and HIV/AIDS work, SAHA covers the following transversal themes: quality of service and knowledge management.

Decentralization: Support for the programme of the Ministry of Decentralization and Land Use Planning (MDAT)

Combating corruption: Support for the Anti-Corruption High-Level Council (CSLCC)

Background information Madagascar

Facts and figures

	Surface area
	Population
	Annual population growth rate (since 1990)
	Life expectancy at birth women / men
	Adult illiteracy rate: women / men
	Gross Domestic Product GDP per capita
	Percentage of population with less than 2 USD per day