USAID Madagascar Information Session for McGovern Dole PowerPoint.pdf

Context for McGovern-Dole Programming in Madagascar

May 3rd, 2021

AGENDA

1. Opening remarks (John Dunlop, USAID Mission Director)

2. Introduction of presenters

3. Madagascar context

4. Alignment with Mission strategic priorities (CDCS)

Spotlight on food insecurity and malnutrition Education Early Grade reading

5. General considerations

6. Q&A

7. Closing remarks

• 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, locusts, disease.

• Poverty: World’s poorest non-conflict country: 75% live on >$1.90/day (80% rely on subsistence agriculture). $425/year average income. 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: ~42% suffer from chronic malnutrition in childhood, resulting in stunting (MICS 2018) 🡪🡪 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 Context

Madagascar’s Journey to Self-Reliance 2021 Country Roadmap

ALIGNMENT WITH MISSION

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

2020-2024

COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT

COOPERATION STRATEGY

(CDCS)

DO1 - Human Capital

1) Better health outcomes (WASH, maternal/child health and nutrition, family planning, systems strengthening etc.)

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.

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

SPOTLIGHT ON FOOD INSECURITY

AND MALNUTRITION

Spotlight on Chronic Food Insecurity:

Widespread Stunting

• Around 42% of children under five (1.9 million) are stunted

(MICS 2018)

• 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

• The current crisis in Southern Madagascar is unprecedented; older people compare this crisis to the 1981 Kere/Famine. By year’s end ~1.5 million will be in IPC3&4

• Region is drought prone. Annual lean season October-March

• Low population density, most underdeveloped region

• Very poor roads, few warehouses/infrastructure; very difficult access

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

• Major infestations of Fall Armyworm, locusts, sandstorms

• Cattle herding, dahalo (armed cattle rustlers), insecurity

• During El Nino (2015-2017) and this year: mass migration and other negative coping strategies. Massive school dropout.

• Many emergency actors. Centre de Coordination Operationnel

Kere (CCOK) and National Disaster Management Office (in Ampanihy) oversee coordination of emergency response, while Ministry of Population leads social protection efforts.

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

Projected Acute Malnutrition May 2021 onward

Acute Malnutrition January-April 2021

FOOD SECURITY PROJECTS:

MAHARO (CRS):

2019-2024 $45 million Atsimo Andrefana and Androy regions

FIOVANA (ADRA):

2019-2024 $45 million Atsimo Atsinanana and Vatovavy Fitovinany regions

HEALTH PROJECTS:

RANOWASH: 2007-2022 - $33 million Alaotra Mangoro, Atsinanana, Haute Matsiatra, Amoron’i Mania, Vatovavy Fitovinany, Vakinankaratra

ACCESS: 2018-2023 - $96 million Atsimo Andrefana, Atsinanana, Vatovavy Fitovinany, Diana, SAVA, Boeny, Sofia, Analanjirofo, Melaky, Menabe

OVERVIEW: RELATED DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM ACTIVITIES: NUTRITION

Access and Fiovana focus on chronic malnutrition Maharo focuses on acute malnutrition

❖ Educate and counsel households/pregnant and lactating women (PLW), adolescent girls on nutrition (including through community cooking demonstrations)

❖ Conduct growth monitoring and promotion for children under five ❖ Family planning sensitization ❖ Fiovana and Maharo, as BHA development programs, also distribute

USDA food commodities to selected vulnerable households (two modalities: General Food Distribution, Food For Assets) and PLWs/children under two (Supplemental Feeding modality) and promote nutrition-focused agricultural activities (kitchen gardens, diversification of crops/livestock for greater nutritional value, etc).

DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM ACTIVITIES: WASH

RanoWASH ❖ WASH sensitization, reduce open defecation ❖ Infrastructure construction for communities and health centers ❖ Strengthen the governance and monitoring on WASH ❖ Increase the private sector engagement in service delivery

Access ❖ WASH sensitization, reduce open defecation ❖ WASH service delivery ❖ Accelerate the adoption of healthy behaviors in health centers

Fiovana and Maharo ❖ WASH sensitization, reduce open defecation ❖ Rehabilitation of community WASH infrastructure

EMERGENCY ACTIVITIES IN THE SOUTH

Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) prevention: Unconditional food assistance to vulnerable households Support GOM treatment of Moderate and Severe Acute Malnutrition (MAM and SAM) Nutritional support: Growth monitoring and promotion for children under five, distribution of protection rations, nutrition counseling, cooking demonstrations WASH: infrastructure rehabilitation, community sensitization Other complementary activities: functional literacy, community savings and lending groups

Note: USAID has no existing school feeding programs

EDUCATION: EARLY GRADE READING

OVERVIEW

• 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 GOM/GPE/WB investments

● Full-scale USAID programming in basic education sector: Start date/funding level are uncertain, but most likely 2023 at the earliest/~$5M annually. Mission intends to fill EGR gaps in teacher training systems, teacher performance management/coaching, data management and “culture of reading”. McGovern-Dole program should support these same technical areas.

OVERVIEW

School Feeding

• GOM has committed a modest annual budget for school feeding, which is included in its Education Sector Plan

• GOM updated both the School Feeding Policy and its Implementation

Strategy in late 2019.

– Focus on sustainability through school gardens, local sourcing of food, parent/community engagement

• WFP is a lead partner on support to GOM school feeding efforts

• Current scope of school feeding activities is very limited and varies with level of donor support (6% of primary schools, ~350,000 primary school students in 2018 [10% of total primary students])

• Schools with feeding programs: GOM supports 26%, WFP/GOM support 59%, ADRA supports 11%, and GOM (ONN)/JICA support 1%

• MEN/WFP 2019 Cost-Benefit Analysis of School Cantines https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000115670/download/?_ga=2.55188910.468750380.1619792669-1377835218.1619792669

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 ~$120M Basic Education Support Project (PAEB) grant (through December 2024) 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

• 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)

USAID 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 (Institut national de formation pedagogique [INFP] is leading)

PAEB is funding:

• Printing/distribution of EGR teacher and student materials for grades 1 and 2 (1 copy per student)

• ~1 week of training for all grade 1 and 2 EGR teachers (FRAM, CRINFPs) + headmasters & Chefs ZAP, rolling out July 2021 – December 2023

• Design of grade 3 EGR student and teacher manual (but no funds yet for printing or distribution)

EGR Challenges:

• Continual leadership turnover at

Ministry of National Education (but INFP is fairly stable)

• Inadequate teacher manuals

• Inadequate training, little coaching/follow-up

• COVID-19: pilot distance training, dropout and interrupted schooling

• Lack of supplementary materials

(classroom libraries, print-rich classrooms, slates/chalk)

• Inadequate Malagasy language (official and dialect) story books for beginning readers

• Weak capacity at regional level

EGR Opportunities:

• MMT-derived EGR materials fully integrated into national system

• Very strong technicians in INFP with keen sense of ownership

• Strong existing 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

• 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 build upon USAID investments in EGR under MMT and collaborate with MEN, GPE, WB and other donors on the scaling-up effort.

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

Education - Conclusion

● Demonstrate candid, clear-eyed understanding of in-country constraints and a realistic approach to address them (with particular focus on logistics, COVID impacts, current food security realities/nutritional deficiencies, GOM/community capacity constraints)

● Demonstrate the program’s capacity for sustainability beyond the life of the award, with a particular focus on community and GOM engagement

● Present appropriate justifications for the chosen activities and geographic focus area, balancing sustainability against needs

● Ensure equal focus on the education and nutrition components

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

Q&A

Thank you!

For further questions, please contact USDA at:

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

Context for �McGovern-Dole Programming �in Madagascar

May 3rd, 2021

AGENDA�

1. Opening remarks (John Dunlop, USAID Mission Director)

2. Introduction of presenters

3. Madagascar context

4. Alignment with Mission strategic priorities (CDCS) Spotlight on food insecurity and malnutrition Education Early Grade reading

5. General considerations

6. Q&A

7. Closing remarks

2021 Country Roadmap