Habitat for Humanity Madagascar

Contact information HFH Madagascar BP 12133 Antananarivo 101 Madagascar Phone: +261 202237353 Fax: +261 202231258 E-mail: info@hfhmadagascar.org				Habitat's Work in Madagascar New families served this year*: 278 Total homes constructed/rehabilitated: 1,266 House sponsorship cost: US$2,040         Madagascar News and Stories Nadia’s new pride
Country profile

Why Habitat is needed in Madagascar
Madagascar is the 4th largest island east of Mozambique in the Indian Ocean. It has abundant natural resources and unique wildlife― 80 percent of its plants and animals are found nowhere else in the world. Madagascar primarily exports agricultural products such as vanilla, coffee, shellfish, sugar and fiber. It is also a producer of cotton textile, minerals and gemstone.

The island is prone to tropical cyclones and the accompanying torrential rains, which in recent years have left thousands of people homeless. Madagascar’s decent housing deficit is estimated at more than 2 million.

Madagascar is the 147th poorest country out of 177 countries. 75 percent of its population lives in rural areas as farmers. More than half of its population does not have access to safe drinking water, and 87 percent do not have adequate sanitation facilities.

Families in rural villages earn what they can through domestic farming, carpentry, craft and embroidery. However, with their low incomes, most do not own land or have access to credit from traditional lending institutions. Their houses are usually little more than shacks made from compacted mud and poorly attached thatched roofs, which provide little or no protection from diseases, robbery and cyclones.

How Habitat helps
Since beginning construction in 2000, Habitat for Humanity Madagascar has helped more than 1,200 Malagasy families to build simple, decent homes.

Habitat Madagascar is currently building houses in the East, Central Highland, West, South Highland and Northwest regions. Most of the projects underway are in rural or sub-urban areas but urban slum upgrading has started to be a key component of the program. The first urban project started in the municipality of Moramanga in 2008. There are plans to begin urban slum upgrading in the city of Toliara in the South of the country.

The houses measure between 15 and 40 square meters and usually comprise of a living room, bedroom, kitchen and a bathroom. House foundations are made of stone or fired clay bricks and then covered with concrete floors, while the walls are made of clay brick and mortar. Clay tiles or thatch are used for the roofs and windows and doors are made of eucalyptus. A pit latrine is built outside the house.

Highlights

• Habitat Madagascar’s program is sustainable and ensures that poverty reduction is achieved by keeping house costs affordable for families in need.
• There are plans to expand into new communities, while continuing to lower building costs.
• The program applies traditional vernacular architecture, using appropriate, locally produced materials from renewable sources.

Facts about Madagascar
Location: Indian Ocean, off the Southeast Coast of Africa
Population: 18.4 million
Languages: Malagasy, French
Climate: Tropical along coast, temperate inland
Religions: Indigenous beliefs, Christianity, Islam and others
Government: Republic
Economy: Exports include minerals, semi-precious stones, fish, coffee, seafood, petroleum products