Republic of the Philippines

UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN PHILIPPINES

LAOANG CAMPUS

Laoang Northern Samar

Prepared by :

Babyline E. Baluyot

Bsed 2B - SOCIAL STUDIES

Madagascar is an island country lying off the southeastern coast of Africa.
Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world, after Greenland, New Guinea,
and Borneo.

Although located some 250 miles (400 km) from the African continent,
Madagascar’s population is primarily related not to African peoples but rather to
those of Indonesia, more than 3,000 miles (4,800 km) to the east. The Malagasy
peoples, moreover, do not consider themselves to be Africans, but, because of the
continuing bond with France that resulted from former colonial rule, the island
developed political, economic, and cultural links with the French-speaking countries
of western Africa. The animal life and vegetation of the island are equally anomalous,
differing greatly from that of nearby Africa and being in many respects unique.
Although the coastlands have been known to Europeans for more than 400 years and
to Arabs for much longer, recent historical development has been more intense and
concentrated in the central plateau, which contains the capital city of Antananarivo
(formerly Tananarive).

Among the poorest countries in the world , Madagascar was ranked 10 with the GNI
of 1,607.90 $ despite of its biological and cultural richness . this is due to the
following;

 Kleptocratic rule

Under the kleptocratic rule of French-backed dictator Didier Ratsiraka, government

officials stole millions of dollars in funds ear-marked for aid and development
activities. More generally, corruption is extremely costly to developing economies.
Corruption breeds poorly performing economies by discouraging private sector
development, scaring off foreign investors, undermining government credibility, and
impeding poverty alleviation. The kleptocrats believe that they stand to gain more
from taking a large share of a stable or shrinking economy than from a shrinking
portion of an increasing economy. Economies based on natural resource extraction,
like Madagascar, are particularly prone to kleptocracy.

 Economic colonialism

Despite achieving independence in 1960, Madagascar is still largely run like a colony
with an economy closely tied to resource extraction. Lack of investment in
sustainable industries has retarded Madagascar's economic development
significantly.
  Lack of Infrastructure

According to CIA figures, Madagascar has 49,827 km of roads, of which just 5,780
km are paved. These figures are probably optimistic; many of Madagascar's "paved
roads" are in terrible shape, filled with potholes and or wide enough for only a single
vehicle. Cyclones and other weather conditions often wipe out roads and bridges
making travel even more difficult.

 Geographic isolation

Madagascar's geographic isolation increases the cost of trade. This isolation is not
all bad -- it is a large part of why Madagascar has such incredible biodiversity and
unique cultural practices.

 Relatively small population

A small population is not necessarily a bad thing but it does not really help the
economy. Because Madagascar's population is relatively small (and poor), it will
continue to be underserved as a market for international firms. With less than 20
million people, foreign corporations lack the incentive to develop, transport, and
market many goods in Madagascar.

Educational system Madagascar's children lack an adequate educational system.

Being poor makes it difficult for the government to spend much on education and
until recently most kids lacked basic educational supplies. Textbooks available to
Malagasy children taught them nothing of local fauna (emphasis on European and
African animals not lemurs, tenrecs, and chameleons) or much about their own
country and unique cultural identity.

 Environmental degradation

Madagascar's environmental degradation is severe. Perhaps 90% of Madagascar's

forests are gone while 25-30% of the country burns every year from agricultural fires.
Soil erosion robs the country's agricultural capacity and further impoverishes rural
populations. Conserving what remains of Madagascar's wildlands and biodiversity is
key to the country's future economic development.

Madagascar Economy
Is Madagascar a wealthy country?

Madagascar is a mostly unregulated economy with many untapped natural resources,

but no capital markets, a weak judicial system, poorly enforced contracts, and
rampant government corruption. The country faces challenges to improve education,
healthcare, and the environment to boost long-term economic growth. Agriculture,
including fishing and forestry, is a mainstay of the economy, accounting for more
than one-fourth of GDP and employing roughly 80% of the population. Deforestation
and erosion, aggravated by bushfires, slash-and-burn clearing techniques, and the
use of firewood as the primary source of fuel, are serious concerns to the agriculture
dependent economy.

After discarding socialist economic policies in the mid-1990s, Madagascar followed

a World Bank- and IMF-led policy of privatization and liberalization until a 2009 coup
d’état led many nations, including the United States, to suspend non-humanitarian aid
until a democratically-elected president was inaugurated in 2014. The pre-coup
strategy had placed the country on a slow and steady growth path from an extremely
low starting point. Exports of apparel boomed after gaining duty-free access to the
US market in 2000 under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA); however,
Madagascar's failure to comply with the requirements of the AGOA led to the
termination of the country's duty-free access in January 2010, a sharp fall in textile
production, a loss of more than 100,000 jobs, and a GDP drop of nearly 11%.
Madagascar regained AGOA access in January 2015 and ensuing growth has been
slow and fragile. Madagascar produces around 80% of the world’s vanilla and its
reliance on ths commodity for most of its foreign exchange is a significant source of
vulnerability. Economic reforms have been modest and the country’s financial sector
remains weak, limiting the use of monetary policy to control inflation. An ongoing
IMF program aims to strengthen financial and investment management capacity.

Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world where malnutrition is

widespread. In fact, over a third of households lack adequate food at any given time
of the year. In addition, Madagascar is highly exposed to climate hazards. Over the
past 35 years, more than fifty natural disasters have struck the Big Island, and
cyclones, drought, floods and locust invasions have affected the lives of more than
half the population. These natural disasters have brought in their wake food
shortages and epidemics including malaria. USAID 's response to food insecurity
targets the most vulnerable and under-nourished communities in Madagascar
through the creation of income opportunities for rural households. It also
strengthens maternal and child nutrition during the lean agricultural period, along
with providing dietary supplementation to pregnant and nursing mothers and
toddlers. In addition, USAID is working with farmers groups to improve production
techniques to increase food production.
Ireland’s capital is Dublin, a populous and affluent city whose metropolitan
area is home to more than one-fourth of the country’s total population. The
city’s old dockside neighbourhoods have given way to new residential and
commercial development. Cork, Ireland’s second largest city, is a handsome
cathedral city and port in the southwest. Other principal centres include
Waterford, Wexford, and Drogheda on the east coast, Sligo in the northwest,
and Limerick and Galway in the west.

The republic of Ireland occupies the greater part of an island lying to the west
of Great Britain, from which it is separated—at distances ranging from 11 to
120 miles (18 to 193 km)—by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St.
George’s Channel. Located in the temperate zone between latitudes 51°30′
and 55°30′ N and longitudes 6°00′ and 10°30′ W—as far north as Labrador or
British Columbia in Canada and as far west as the West African state of
Liberia—it constitutes the westernmost outpost of the Atlantic fringe of the
Eurasian landmass (the absolute extreme of which is Tearaght Island, the
westernmost member of the Blasket Islands, which lie off the Dingle
Peninsula and are part of County Kerry). Ireland, which, like Great Britain, once
formed part of this landmass, lies on the European continental shelf,
surrounded by seas that are generally less than 650 feet (200 metres) deep.
The greatest distance from north to south in the island is 302 miles (486 km),
and from east to west it is 171 miles (275 km).

Ireland has a mixed economy. The constitution provides that the state shall
favour private initiative in industry and commerce, but the state may provide
essential services and promote development projects in the absence of
private initiatives. Thus, state-sponsored (“semistate”) bodies operate the
country’s rail and road transport, some of its television and radio stations, its
electricity generation and distribution system, and its peat industry. State
companies also are active in the fields of air transport and health insurance.
The advent of a single European market in the 1990s encouraged many of
these enterprises to privatize and become more competitive. Ireland’s high-
technology sector—made attractive by a very low 12.5 percent corporate tax
rate— spurred economic growth during the 1990s and helped reduce
unemployment to historically low levels. The economic boom, during which
the country’s growth was more than double that of most other EU countries,
gave rise to the country’s being labeled the “Celtic Tiger.” By 2001, however,
the benefits of new jobs created by foreign direct investment via multinational
corporations had begun to slow. Still focused on high growth, Ireland’s
political leadership and its banking sector turned to the mortgage and
construction industries to maintain growth. By 2008 it had become clear that
much of the growth in banking and construction was a bubble without capital
to back it. Collapse soon followed, and Ireland went into a deep economic
recession for several years. A bailout of the Irish financial system by the
European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2010 was
accompanied by requirements for deep austerity cuts that further dampened
prospects for the domestic Irish economy. Ireland had benefited in the 1990s
and early 2000s from a combination of low tax rates and responsive social
programs; however, both contributed to the significant budget challenges that
came as a result of the 2008 financial collapse.

Trade of Ireland
The United States and United Kingdom are Ireland’s chief trading partners.
Other major partners include the other countries of the EU (notably Germany,
France, and Belgium), China, and Switzerland. A wide range of manufactured
products are exported, including electrical machinery and apparatus,
processed foods, chemical products, clothing and textiles, and beverages.
Ireland is among the world’s leading exporters of computer software. The
principal imports include machinery and transport equipment, chemicals,
petroleum and petroleum products, food products, and textiles.

Finance
The Irish pound (or punt) was linked to the British pound sterling until 1979,
when the republic joined the European Monetary System. Today the euro, the
EU’s single currency, is the country’s official currency. The Central Bank of
Ireland, established in 1942, is the national monetary authority. Its
responsibilities include licensing and overseeing the country’s financial
institutions and supervising the Irish Stock Exchange. The bank does not
transact business with the public, but it exerts a considerable influence on the
volume of bank credit through the “advice” it gives to the clearing (or, to use
the Irish term, the associated) banks. The Irish Stock Exchange, located in
central Dublin, is one of the oldest in the world, having traded continuously
since 1793.
The collapse of the Irish economy in late 2008 created economic chaos in the
country. Initially, the government believed that failing banks would attract
investment after it pledged to guarantee all deposits in those banks. Instead,
the government’s promise left the Irish people liable for losses of staggering
proportions for such a small country. Ireland fought to manage its situation
through November 2010, but it ultimately accepted a bailout of more than
$100 billion from the EU, the IMF, and countries offering bilateral aid. The
terms of the bailout set by the EU and the IMF were very stringent.

Services
Tourism plays a very important role in the Irish economy. Its value has
increased considerably since the 1950s, when the Irish Tourist Board (Bord
Fáilte Éireann) was established and began encouraging new hotel
construction, the development of resort areas, the extension of sporting
facilities, and an increase of tourist amenities. The organization’s successor,
Fáilte Ireland, also developed joint ventures with the Northern Ireland Tourist
Board. The vast majority of foreign tourists come from the United Kingdom,
the United States, and elsewhere in Europe, but groups from the Middle East
and China are increasingly seen at the major tourist attractions around the
country.

Local government
The local government system comprises five county borough corporations,
five borough corporations in the major cities, and 29 county councils, as well
as numerous urban district councils and boards of town commissioners. Each
of these is elected at regular intervals by universal adult suffrage. Of the 29
county councils, only 24 represent whole counties. For administrative
purposes, the traditional County Tipperary is divided into a North Riding and a
South Riding, each having a county council, and Dublin also is divided, among
three county councils (Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal, and South Dublin).
County councils and county borough corporations are responsible for physical
planning, roads, sewerage and water supplies, housing, public libraries, fire
services, and courthouses. Local government authorities in the republic have
no functions in relation to police or education. Important policy decisions (e.g.,
on local taxes, borrowing, and the making of bylaws) are made by the elected
councils. Administration, on the other hand, is the responsibility of the county
(or city) manager, who usually consults with members of the council before
discharging important executive functions. There is a city manager for each
county borough council, and for each county council there is a county
manager, who also acts as manager for the lesser local authorities within the
county. Noncounty boroughs, urban districts, and towns have more limited
duties, and, in regard to functions outside their scope, they form part of the
administrative counties in which they are situated. The local government
system is supervised by the national Department of the Environment.

Economic Differences between Madagascar and

Ireland

Madagascar is one of a poorest country. It is ranked 10th to be exact as of

year 2023. Their problem is that they are used to have a slow action from the
Government , when in fact the big problem that they are facing is the
Corruption , the proper usage of the natural resources , the needs of
improvement in education and most specially the health care facilities for the
people . Although they are rich from different resouces the problem is that
the way on how they used it and cultivate the resources as their primary
source of income . Most trees are gone due to the deforestration and kaingin.
Poverty is one of the most problem in madagascar .Malnutrition and
unemployement .

in different side , Madagascar is a country with good personalities whose

main focus are Friendship, Forgiveness and teamwork . The biodiversity of the
country is endemic but the their probelm is that the threat to their nature the
deforestration as well as the Habitat destruction in which animals are and
other species are gone due to the tree cutting and leads them to lost their
habitat. while

Ireland is somehow a sustainable and developed country. Tourism is one of

the primary source of income of the people ,also it takes part to the irish
growth economy . Many different beautiful places that the Ireland is most
known and popular for and different beautiful places views and delicacies
that you can find .
References :

https://www.usaid.gov/madagascar/food-security-and-disaster-
assistance#:~:text=Madagascar%20is%20one,increase%20food%20production.

https://www.countryreports.org/country/Madagascar/economy.htm#:~:text=Madag
ascar%20is%20a%20mostly%20unregulated,boost%20long%2Dterm%20economic%2
0growth.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Ireland/Sports-and-recreation

RECOMMENDATION:

Madagascar

Madagascar is one of a country that has a rich biodiversity in which people

doesnt know how to make their environment as the main sources of income.
might as well they make their environment as the sources of vegetables
poduction and trade it to other country or other places with in their country

As for the government whose members are corrupting the funds of the people
we people are the one whose responsible of putting them in that situation in
that way it is our responsibility to drag them down to their position to stop
what they have done wrong.