Famine in Madagascar

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rowan
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Famine in Madagascar

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Three years of drought have brought the giant island of Madagascar to the brink of famine, with almost a million people in the south alone now suffering 'alarming levels of hunger.' Ninety per cent of the nation's 22 million people live below the poverty line, while almost half of its children are malnourished. Many children are no longer going to school but searching for food, while mothers are resorting to feeding their babies cactus, which causes constipation. Pregnant women, new mothers and children under five are most at risk, and UNICEF estimates it requires at least $140 million to provide meaningful support to the communities. Droughts used to occur about once a decade, according to local experts, but as a result of global warming they are now becoming twice as frequent.

Madagascar has experienced ongoing political instability since gaining independence from France in 1960. In 2009 police opened fire on anti-government protestors in the capital Antananarivo, killing 30 and wounding many more. A coup followed that year but only led to a political deadlock, international condemnations and crippling sanctions. Finally in 2013 democratic elections were held, though just 18 months into Hery Rajaonarimampianina's presidency the county's National Assembly voted to impeach him for failing to deliver on election promises. This bid failed, but the political situation remains volatile.

The world's fourth biggest island has an interesting history. It was first settled by Austronesian peoples (ethnically akin to the Polynesians) from the Malay Peninsula around two millenia ago - hence the local name for the nation 'Malagasy. This is about the same time as the eastward-bound Polynesians were settling Samoa and Tonga. Whether the aboriginals of Madagascar made their way around the coasts of southern Asia and eastern Africa (without being absorbed into local communities) or somehow made a miraculous sea voyage right across the Indian Ocean, is uncertain. The Arabs are thought to have been in contact with the island since around 800AD, and possibly introduced native Africans from the mainland. Europeans did not discover Madagascar until 1500AD - eight years after Columbus had arrived in the Americas. Portugal's Diogo Dias was the first European to sight the island, though it was the French who first began trading there in the 17th century, then invaded toward the end of the 19th.

In the early 19th century Andrianampoinimerinandriantsimitoviaminandriampanjaka united the Merina kingdom, the largest of the native tribes (they number about 3 million today) and went on to conquer most of the island. The Merina dynasty continued until 1893, when the French overthrew Queen Ranavalona III. A native uprising in 1947 claimed 90,000 lives, all but 180 of them Malagasy. Today the majority of the island's population are of mixed African-Austronesian ethnicity, though the native language remains Malagasy; a member of the Malayo-Polynesian language family.

Madagascar has also shown some promise as a rugby-playing nation, with huge crowds at home-games and two appearances in the African Cup final in the mid-2000s. Their most famous victory came against Namibia four years ago when they prevailed by an astonishing scoreline of 57-54 in extra-time with a last minute try - much to the delight of approximately 40,000 home fans, including the president, who personally gave a halftime pep-talk. At flyhalf in that game was Jose Rakoto, who scored two tries and six conversions. A fixture of the national side since 2000, notwithstanding a season in France, he remains the Makis' captain and is the record points scorer (and undoubtedly their greatest player ever). In 2013 he was named Player of the Serendib Cup in Sri Lanka, after Les Makis beat the host nation 17-12 and Poland 25-21 to clinch the mini-tournament. According to World Rugby statistics Madagascar has 20,000 registered players and 27,000 total players, placing it third in Africa behind SA and Zimbabwe. In terms of rankings it is currently 8th in Africa and 45th in the world after a few lean seasons.

If they're good enough to play at World Cups, why not in between?
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rowan
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Re: Famine in Madagascar

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Today Madagascar commemorates the 70th anniversary of the revolt against French rule. Planning began during WWII while the French were under German occupation, and was egged on by the British who had designs on the giant island itself, given its strategically advantageous location between the Cape and India. The revolt began with an attack on a French camp, killing 22. The response was brutal, leaving about 100,000 natives dead in total (the French say less, the natives say more). The French employed terror tactics, including rape and torture, machine-gunning of protestors and throwing prisoners out of planes (basically the same tactics they would later use in Algeria). Many more prisoners were tortured in prison, of course. Little news of this reached Europe at the time, and only after Madagascar won independence in 1960 was it given due attention. Official commemorations began in 1967, and in 1988 an award-winning film was produced 'Tabataba' (loosely translates as 'The Troubles,' interestingly).
If they're good enough to play at World Cups, why not in between?
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