USAID Madagascar Education and Food Security Portfolio Overview Presentation - For McGovern-Dole FY 2020.pdf

FY20 McGovern-Dole Program:

USAID Mission Priorities in

Madagascar

June 4, 2020

Context for

McGovern-Dole Programming in Madagascar

Madagascar Context

• Culture: Blend of Austronesian and Bantu cultures with Arab, French, South Asian influences.

Local religion (incl. local taboos and respect for ancestors) predominates, with syncretism (~45% Christian) and small Muslim and Hindu populations). One language, many dialects.

• Biodiversity: At least 80% of the plant and animal species found in Madagascar are endemic. Widespread degradation of wild areas. Slash/burn, zebu grazing.

• Natural Disasters: Cyclones, flooding, drought, Fall Armyworm, disease.

• Poverty: World’s poorest non-conflict country: 75% live on >$1.90/day (80% rely on subsistence agriculture); only country where GDP growth has declined since independence (1960) without a war. The number of people living in poverty in Madagascar is expected to increase dramatically due to COVID-19.

• Political Instability: 2009-13 political crisis → loss of development gains. Current president led 2009 ouster of prior elected president.

• Health: ~47% suffer from chronic malnutrition in childhood, resulting in stunting → lifelong negative effects on health, cognitive development, earning potential.

• Education: Primary grade reading outcomes among the lowest in Francophone Africa; 83% of grade 5 students don’t meet minimum reading proficiency. 80% of teachers have no formal training

• Under-aided: Least ODA per poor person of any low-income country.

Madagascar’s Journey to Self-Reliance

Mission Strategic Priorities:

2020-24 CDCS

The McGovern-Dole program supports USAID Madagascar’s CDCS under Development Objective 1: Human Capital

● DO1 - Human Capital: 1) Better health outcomes (water, sanitation and hygiene; maternal and child health and nutrition; family planning; malaria; professionalization of health staff;

health commodity supply chain support; health data management; health systems strengthening); 2) Improved early grade reading outcomes; 3) Greater resilience to natural disasters.

● DO2 - Governance Strengthening: 1) Rule of law strengthening and anti-corruption; 2) Improved GOM access to and management of financial resources for development; 3) Increased tools and platforms for citizen participation in governance.

● DO3 - Economic Opportunity: 1) More sustainable natural resource management; 2) Improved rural livelihoods; 3) Private sector strengthening.

Key USAID Activities Access

RanoWASH

Mikajy

PMI

Maharo

Fiovana

CDCS - Health: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

• The Mission’s flagship WASH activity is RanoWASH ($33M, 2017-22; Alaotra Mangoro, Atsinanana, Haute Matsiatra, Amoron’i Mania, Vatovavy Fitovinany, Vakinakaratra). It conducts WASH sensitization and infrastructure construction for communities and health centers.

• Access ($96M, 2018-23; Atsimo Andrefana, Atsinanana, Vatovavy Fitovinany; will expand into Diana, SAVA, Boeny, Sofia, USAID PROGRAMS

• RanoWash

• Access

• Mahefa Miaraka

• Fiovana

• Maharo

Analanjirofo, Melaky, Menabe [current Mahefa Miaraka zones] when Mahefa Miaraka ends in

2021). WASH sensitization.

• Fiovana ($45M, 2019-24; Vatovavy Fitovinany, Atsimo Atsinanana) and Maharo ($45M, 2019-24; Atsimo Andrefana, Androy) conduct WASH sensitization and rehabilitate community WASH infrastructure.

CDCS - Health: Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition

• Access, Fiovana (focusing on chronic malnutrition) and Maharo (focusing on acute malnutrition) educate PLW and households on nutrition (including through community cooking demonstrations), conduct Growth Monitoring and Promotion outreach and household counseling

USAID PROGRAMS

• Access

• Maharo

• Fiovana particularly for children under five, PLWs and adolescent girls. These programs also conduct family planning sensitization, direct community members to seek health services (especially PLWs and CU5s). Fiovana and Maharo, as Food for Peace development programs, also distribute USDA food commodities to selected vulnerable households and PLWs/CU2s and support complementary agricultural activities (kitchen gardens, diversification of crops/livestock for greater nutritional value etc).

Spotlight on Chronic Food Insecurity:

Widespread Stunting

• Around 47% of children under five are stunted

• Children of both genders affected equally, on average

• Cyclones worsen waterborne disease and cause crop failures (annual season November to April, affecting eastern and northern coasts)

• Causes of stunting are numerous, not only lack of food

• Predominant causes of stunting appear to vary by region

- Central Highlands: The “breadbasket” of

Madagascar - adequate caloric intake but poor dietary diversity

- East Coast: WASH, parasites/disease

- South: Low caloric intake, disease (malaria etc.)

Spotlight on Acute Food Insecurity in Southern Madagascar:

Recurrent Drought and Cyclical Acute Malnutrition

• Drought prone. Annual lean season October to March

• Low population density, most underdeveloped region

• Very poor roads, other infrastructure; difficult access.

• Food staples: cassava, sweet potatoes, maize, cactus

• Major infestations of Fall Armyworm, locusts

• Cattle herding, dahalo (cattle rustlers), insecurity

• During and after El Nino drought (2015-17), mass migration and other negative coping strategies.

• Many emergency actors. National Disaster

Management Office (BNGRC) oversees coordination of emergency response, while Ministry of Population leads social protection efforts.

• ~350-800,000 need emergency food assistance in a typical year

CDCS - Education: Early Grade Reading

• 2015 Madagascar Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA): on average, grade 2 students were able to read 24 correct words per minute and answer only 24% of the comprehension questions correctly.

• The Mission intends to support achievement of GOM’s Education Sector Plan (2017-2022) by building on the success of its pilot EGR program “Mahay Mamaky Teny” (MMT) and subsequent

KEY PROGRAMS

• Mahay Mamaky

Teny (USAID -closed)

• PAEB (GPE/WB)

• TBD (USAID)

GOM/WB/GPE investments to expand/scale it up.

The Mission intends to fill key gaps to ensure quality and sustainability of improved EGR, with a focus on teacher training systems, teacher performance management/coaching and data management

• Start date of new USAID programming in basic education sector is uncertain, but most likely 2023 at the earliest. McGovern-Dole program should support ongoing GOM/GPE MMT scale-up.

Current State of Early Grade Reading Reforms in Madagascar

Government of Madagascar (GOM) and Donor Priorities in Basic Education

• Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and World Bank co-financed $100.7M Basic Education Support Project (PAEB) grant to implement Education Sector Plan (PSE) in first two years of primary school.

• PAEB seeks to: improve learning outcomes, strengthen teacher training, increase attendance/promotion, reduce dropout, expand access to pre-primary, and improve school management & implementation of reforms

• Planned additional GPE financing ($19.6M): July 2020-Dec. 2024

• JICA provides support to remedial reading instruction in early grades

• AFD is providing support to improved teaching of French language (especially grade 2 and beyond)

• Other donors: basic education sector support basket fund (~14M euros in FY19)

Mahay Mamaky Teny Early Grade Reading Program

EGRA results led GOM to emphasize improved EGR in PSE. In 2018, USAID funded 7-month, $800,000 Mahay Mamaky Teny (MMT - “I Know How to Read”) program to strengthen Ministry of Education (MEN) capacity to sustainably improve reading outcomes of children in first grade in support of this goal.

The MMT activity had five objectives:

1) Develop a scope and sequence for Malagasy

2) Provide technical assistance to MEN to develop teacher manuals for grades 1 and 2, including decodable and leveled readers

3) Develop reading standards for grades 1-3 in official Malagasy

4) Develop a simplified EGRA and train MEN officials on how to administer it and analyze results

5) Build MEN capacity to train teachers in early grade reading

A short video on the Mahay Mamaky Teny program is available online here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qil1hU0_qnQ&feature=emb_logo

GOM Scale-Up of Improved EGR

After only 4 months, MMT students showed statistically significant improvements in reading. As a result, the GOM adopted USAID’s approach to early grade reading and is in the process of scaling it up nationally.

PAEB is funding:

• FHI-360 team embedded in Institut Nationale de Formation Pedagogique (INFP) to create EGR materials design for grades 2-3 and related teacher training content

• Printing/distribution of manuals

• ~1 week of training for all EGR teachers

EGR Challenges:

• MEN/GOM ownership (new president elected in 2019) → Diverse manuals, competing guidance

• FHI-360 team contract ending this year

• Inadequate student materials (not 1:1)

• Absence of teacher manuals

• Inadequate training, little coaching/follow-up

• COVID-19: distance learning?

EGR Opportunities:

• Very strong technicians in INFP with keen sense of ownership

• Strong existing MMT resources:

manuals, training courses, simplified EGRA, MEN personnel and interns involved in materials design (trained in

EGR)

• Strong collaboration with WB;

united donor front in education sector

Conclusion

• EGR is a critical element of the GOM’s PSE, and this is reflected in donor coordination around this area

• The GOM is also committed to increasing school feeding, and updated its school feeding strategy and implementation plan in 2019

• McGovern-Dole program should advance USAID investments in EGR under MMT and ongoing scale-up in collaboration with MEN, GPE, WB and other donors

• USAID Madagascar intends to bring on board an EGR education specialist in the coming year, and aims to launch an EGR program around 2023

Q&A

Thank you!

For further questions, please contact USDA at:

ppded@fas.usda.gov mailto:ppded@fas.usda.gov