Family planning
Population, health and environment, Madagascar
Madagascar, amongst the ‘hottest of the hot’ global biodiversity hotspots, exhibits exceptional concentrations of endemic species gravely threatened by devastating loss of habitat.
The country also has one of the world’s fastest growing populations, with an average fertility rate of over 5 births per woman and nearly half of the country’s population currently under fifteen years of age. Only one in five women in union has access to contraception despite government programmes to promote family planning.
Rapid growth of coastal populations – whose doubling time is approximately 10-15 years - poses a severe threat to the future sustainability of the country’s extensive coral reefs and other marine habitats, upon which the livelihoods, culture and future economic wellbeing of coastal communities depend.
Blue Ventures is directly addressing the environmental challenges of population pressures through an integrated Population, Health and Environment (PHE) initiative within indigenous fishing communities in the south of the country, where there is a huge unmet demand for sexual and reproductive health services.
Working in close partnership with government health officials, national health institutions and NGOs, the initiative - which provides access to family planning and reproductive health services in isolated coastal communities - aims to meet the community’s need for these services, serving to reduce the rate of unwanted pregnancies and to enable couples to plan their family size and space their children.
The initiative also runs a range of social marketing activities, including the use of theatre and educational programmes. These have proven highly effective in raising awareness of the importance of family planning and in facilitating the adoption of safer sexual practices. Consequently Blue Ventures’ PHE programme is also addressing the rapidly increasing prevalence of many sexually transmissible infections seen throughout Madagascar, in particular the predicted HIV epidemic.
By developing reproductive health programmes in parallel with existing conservation efforts, the programme benefits from established working partnerships and relationships between communities and NGO representatives.
This pioneering, integrated approach to conservation, health and family planning offers opportunities for these different interventions to work synergistically, enabling far more effective achievement of the projects' objectives than could be achieved if these projects were carried out in isolation.
More information about this programme can be found in the reports below.
I think your project is just wonderful: it's straightforward and hugely effective. You have a chance to change the fate of those suffering from these diseases in Madagascar. Dear Becks, I send you all the good luck wishes and kindest thoughts. You are going to have a remarkable effect and will save many lives, and I couldn't admire you more.
Warmest good wishes, Joanna Lumley.
If we truly want to help protect coral reefs, and ensure the people of southwest Madagascar have food on their tables in years to come, we must tackle the root causes of environmental degradation. Our expanding global population needs to be seen in this context. By working at this interface between conservation and population growth, we are proud to say that Blue Ventures is pioneering a model that can be easily replicated elsewhere.
We have demonstrated that enabling communities to manage their population growth can become an integral part of helping them to develop sustainably.
Family Planning in the news!
Madagascar tackles its family planning crisis (People & Planet)
Ambitious family planning goals (IRIN)
Family Planning at the Frontier (Optimum Population Trust)
