Madagascar – 15 April 2016

New Madagascar PM Vows to Target Poverty, Corruption

Madagascar’s new prime minister pledged he would focus on fighting poverty and corruption as he took over on Wednesday from Jean Ravelonarivo, who left office amid confusion over his resignation.

On Sunday, the president’s office announced former interior minister, Solonandrasana Olivier Mahafaly, as the new premier, two days after it announced that Ravelonarivo had resigned, only for him to deny he had done so.

“Our priorities will be the fight against poverty,” Mahafaly said at the handover ceremony at the prime minister’s office in the capital, Antananarivo.

Voice of America

Madagascar moves to protect its vanilla market

Vanilla demand is growing, particularly in developing countries, as Nestle and Whole Foods Market are using more natural flavors in food products. But a prolonged price slump led to smaller global harvests. And in Madagascar farmers took shortcuts.

Seattle Times