Madagascar: fisheries and family planning

1 August 2011

Source: Wilson Center

An integrated population, health and environment project in Madagascar by Blue Ventures is the focus of a recent publication by The Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program.

Integrating reproductive health and conservation

Christine does not know how old she is. She has 16 children and lives on a remote island off the southwestern coast of Madagascar. She and her children, like other members of the Vezo ethnic group, depend entirely on the ocean for their survival. Her husband, a fisherman, struggles to catch enough to feed his family.

In this isolated area, most girls have their first child before the age of 18, and families with 10 children or more are commonplace. But since the marine conservation NGO Blue Ventures launched a family planning program in 2007, couples and women like Christine are able to make their own reproductive health choices.

In focus: an integrated approach

To live with the sea: Reproductive health care and marine conservation in Madagascar provides an overview of this integrated population, health and environment programme which is one of PSN's model projects.

In the article Blue Ventures' Vik Mohan, Rebecca Hill, and Alasdair Harris argue that their integrated approach, which combines reproductive health with conservation measures, offers these communities in Madagascar-and the marine environment on which they depend-the best possible chances of survival.

The article is the main feature of the latest edition of The Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program's (ECSP) Focus publication, issue 23. The programme promotes dialogue on the connections among environmental, health, development, and population dynamics and their links to conflict, human insecurity, and foreign policy.

Lessons learned and recommendations

Several lessons learned and recommendations are put forward in the publication:

• Conservation organizations are well-placed to offer family planning in remote regions, where an unmet need for this service drives the population pressures that threaten biodiversity.
  
  
• Collaboration with regional government institutions and other key stakeholders can help to ensure sustainability of the program.
  
  
• Empowering both women and men is key.
  
  
• More research is needed to understand and quantify the benefits of this integrated approach.
  

Download FOCUS Issue 23 To Live With the Sea: Reproductive Health Care and Marine Conservation in Madagascar from the Wilson Center.

PSN Model Projects

Blue Ventures' population, health and environment project in Madagascar is one of several projects supported by PSN, serving as model projects demonstrating the benefits of integrated approaches to health and conservation issues.

Read more about PSN model projects.

This article, published by the Wilson Centre has been reproduced by PSN. Minor changes and cuts may have been made for the purpose of brevity and relevance. The information relating to PSN been added by PSN.