The Government recognizes that there is an urgent need to develop a road safety strategy as well as road safety policies, implementation mechanisms, and monitoring systems.
Background
The urban population of Madagascar was estimated at 6,900,000 inhabitants in 2014. By 2036, it is estimated to reach more than 17.6 million (UN-HABITAT).
Challenges
Although data has been difficult to source about transportation in Madagascar, it is clear that NMT is a significant mode. Head loading, ox-carts, canoes and bicycle-travel are key modes in this largely rural country. Poor maintenance and erosion have rendered a significant portion of the road network (mostly unpaved) unsafe. Transport has been widely recognized as a barrier to the provision of and access to health services in rural areas. Madagascar’s overall poor infrastructure is negatively affecting its economic growth and development opportunities. While 70 percent of primary roads are in good condition, about two-thirds of secondary and tertiary roads are estimated to be in poor condition (WB, 2018).
Successes
In February 2015, a partnership between Transaid (an international development charity that facilitates local transport solutions) and Malagasy NGO Lalana developed a training curriculum for bicycle assembly, maintenance, repairs and management of bicycles for community health workers – enabling these workers to visit more people in a day, travel further, and attend to emergencies quicker. Bicycle ambulances and carts are manufactured in Madagascar itself, as part of an ‘Enterprise Box’ project that also sells and repairs bicycles.
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