Feb
25
Madagascar cyclone is another blow to an island in need
February 25, 2008 | | 1 Comment
By Penny (2)
To the bottom left of Africa, sitting in the Indian Ocean is Madagascar, usually far off the world’s heavily beaten news track.
But it’s an island in the news this month due to Cyclone Ivan which struck its east coast on Sunday 17 February. It was a category three with winds gusting more than 230 km/h (140 mph). The latest death toll is 44 with 145,000 homeless.
Whole villages have been wiped out, roads blocked and communities cut off. Now there are worries of infectious diseases such as diarrhoea as large areas of the island can only be reached by air or water.
On Friday an urgent appeal was launched for international assistance. One of the first to respond was UNICEF which began distributing blankets, sanitation kits and other emergency supplies to affected areas in the north of the island.
Cyclone season is usually March to December and this is the second time this year that Madagascar has been struck by a cyclone. Cyclone Fame struck earlier this month killing 12 and leaving 5,000 Malagasy homeless.
And four years ago Cyclone Gafilo killed 32 people when it struck land in March 2004. Also killed were 113 people from the nearby Comores Islands aboard a ferry bound for Madagascar. Only a month before that Cyclone Elita killed 29 Malagasy and left tens of thousands of homeless.
It’s not well known but Madagascar is the world’s largest producer of vanilla and cyclone damage is likely to affect global prices s it takes more than three years for the vanilla plant to mature.
The island’s economy also depends on tourism generated by its unique and diverse range of wildlife and agriculture. However poverty and the competition for agricultural land have put pressure on the island’s dwindling forests, home to much of Madagascar’s unique wildlife and key to its emerging tourist industry.
With a population of more nearly 20 million living mainly in rural areas outside of the capital Antananarivo, The World Bank estimates that 70% of Malagasy live on less than $1 per day.
What’s more, this former French colony suffers with its large international debt. Economically and culturally, Madagascar retains strong ties with France as well as French-speaking West Africa.
Comments
Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!)1 Comment so far
Thanks for pointing us to a story and a place we would not normally have noticed.