Crises and resilience in Madagascar : relationships with demographic and social dynamics

The study describes the relationships between economic and political crises which occurred repeatedly in Madagascar, and several sociodemographic and health parameters, over the 1960-2010 period. Fertility trends appear largely independent from the crises. In contrast, under-five mortality reacted strongly to the 1975-1986 crisis, but quickly recovered afterwards. Adult level of education, for both men and women, declined for cohorts born after 1969. The average height of adult women declined for cohorts born after 1962, who were adolescent at the beginning of theeconomic crisis. These trends were compared with the African average in order to show the specificity of trends in Madagascar. Some of the changes were atypical (declining level of education and declining age at marriage), others were more pronounced than elsewhere (declining adult height), whereas fertility trends appeared surprising at first glance. They may be understood in the context of the successful family planning program, and by population pressure on arable land.