Helping to find a way out of debt

Madagascar – the large island – is roughly 14 times the size of Switzerland, with a population of approximately 17.9 million. The island lies some 400 km off the coast of East Africa in the Indian Ocean. It has four different climate zones, which include the high central plateau and the coastal regions in the west, east and south, in which different types of agriculture and cattle rearing are practised.
A large majority of Malagasy households are highly indebted to traders and professional money lenders, who impose ruinous terms. This explains partly why conditions for large parts of the population continue to get worse. This extreme poverty has created precarious situations in the rural area, and led to growing criminality in the cities.

Coordinators and Programme officer

Parany Rasamimanana	Fanja Razanamialy	Gion Cabalzar
Blanca Steinmann