As I researched the country Madagascar it was rare to find data that showed change over a period of time in Madagascar because it’s a third world country that is still very young. For example if you look at the graph showing the average growth rate and you can see that Madagascar doesn’t show much change as it should. This also ties into the fact that Madagascar has 18% of their economy in poverty because Madagascar still possess a high social divide. However, Madagascar is rich with agriculture and ever since their Independence from French, the Malagasy people were able to increase the percent of agriculture by land up by 10% but the most dramatic change in time I noticed was during the uprising against French rule in 1918 when the population took a big dive. So I can say that over time Madagascar has not showed much improvement other than agriculture which the island is known for.
Agriculture is the is the number one source of food production in Madagascar,The Malagasy people live off the land as they have since the beginning of time. Since majority of the population lives in rural area farming has not decreased as it has in other countries. The Island food is very exotic from Romazava (a type of beef stew). Ravitoto (pork served with shredded cassava leaves). Varanga (fried slivers of beef). Sesika (a sort of poultry blood sausage). Vorivorin-kena (beef tripe). Smalona (stuffed eels).koba (banana, peanuts and rice, ground to a paste, wrapped in a banana leaf and served in slices) These examples show how unique the food is and also how relative it is to the culture. The national dish of the Island is the beef stew Romazava which each different ethnic group makes differently. So considering how culturally diverse Madagascar is and how rich the environment is, the food is linked to the culture and its historic traditions.
Agricultural Production in Madagascar. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.wildmadagascar.org/overview/loc/37-agriculture.html
Madagascar Is rich in its Indonesian-African Culture and through these images you can see how the Indian and African background combine.
Here are some great statistics to show you the average and life of the Malagasy people.
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For additional information Check out these sites.
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Religions Role In Madagascar
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Madagascar, a country that is still developing in the world as we know the people still keep to the old ways of their ancestors who moved to the Island many moons ago. The basic religion of the island is Tribal/Traditional but considering there were many crusades by foreigners, there are influences of Christianity as well. Religion is different from every ethnic group in Madagascar but as each group developed their own beliefs they all follow the belief in soul, immortality, and their supreme god Zanahary. Furthermore, they pay a high respect to the dead believing they are gods on earth and not forgetting the legendary kings, queens, and ancestors of Madagascar.
Religion has played a major role in this country because it not only exiled the island at one point but it has determined the social status of the Malagasy people. For instance, Wildmadagascar.org states,” The nineteenth century witnessed a confrontation between Christianity and traditional religious beliefs, as Queen Ranavalona I expelled foreign missionaries and persecuted Christians, putting many of them to death.” This shows that religion brought fear when Christians wanted to influence the traditional ways of the Malagasy people and nearly depleted a country. However, as their traditional ways survived it created a social divide as the rich remained at the top, the workers stayed in the middle, and slaves never grew from the bottom. Although considering times have changed and Christianity is supported by 40% of people everyone, the Malagasy still practice their same Indonesian-African traditions left behind by their ancestors. Moreover, the basic of religion was established by their ancestors so many of the sacred places have remained till this day. One of the sacred places that holds so much tradition and is widely used by the Malagasy people is the idea of a tomb. Each different ethnic group has a tomb that they bury the dead in but they all make their tombs in a very distinctive way, because the dead are paid the highest respect. Another sacred place that is valuable to the Malagasy people is the royal hill where worship is done as it has been used for many years and carries a lot of tradition. Following that, since there was a massacre that occurred the government has allowed freedom of religion throughout the entire country. This is very resourceful as there is a big divide between each ethnic group and worldtravelguide.net points out, “Between 2009 and 2014, Madagascar had no internationally recognized government. Most international aid was stopped, living standards across the country dropped, the economy backpedaled and the security situation worsened.” Proving that Madagascar to this day needs religious freedom and a working government. Clearly, religion on the island of Madagascar is a main concern as it plays a major role in the life of the Malagasy people. I think their traditional beliefs are unique to their roots but I also think it holds the country behind in development. For example, there are many different ethnics groups with a wide variety of beliefs that can cause conflict as the people have a huge social divide. This divide is due to the fact of 55% believing in traditional and 40% believing in Christianity, which creates a constant clash between the groups ad many religions tend to disagree. So in the end, I see religion having a negative role on the country even though they support religious freedom. Works Cited
Madagascar History, Language and Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2015, from http://www.worldtravelguide.net/madagascar/history-language-culture Madagascar | history - geography. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2015, from http://www.britannica.com/place/Madagascar Traditional Beliefs and Religion in MADAGASCAR. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2015, from http://www.wildmadagascar.org/overview/loc/28-beliefs.html |