Paper short abstract:

This communication attempts an adaptation of the concept of middle classes to the Malagasy rural area of Itasy by adopting the notion of “small prosperity”. It proposes a microeconomic analysis of this category of households from a data survey.

Paper long abstract:

The proposed communication aims to contribute to the recent analysis of rising middle classes in developing countries particularly in sub-Saharan countries by focusing essentially on the rural area through the case of the Malagasy region of Itasy.

First, we borrow the concept of "small prosperity" proposed by Darbon and Toulabor (2011) to discuss the relevance and necessity of a middle classes analysis in African countries if we adapt the notion to their specificity. We argue that, despite their vulnerability, there is a middle category of persons in Africa that deserve special attention. Indeed, they could be a development lever and an effective support for poverty reduction and political stability as what expects the literature for emerging countries (Easterly, 2001). Next, we choose to apply the concept on a specific rural area in order to counteract the accepted idea of a systematic urban middle class and to emphasize the importance of the rural potential in Madagascar, as in most African countries. In fact, the majority of population lives in this space and the agriculture is still the key of the economic development in Madagascar (Bockel, 2005). We then attempt to an empirical and microeconomic analysis of the small prosperity category of households in the region of Itasy by using data from the ROR (the rural observatories network of Madagascar) on the period of 2005-2011. We complement the income criteria with food security, access to some commodities and land issues that are all relevant conditions in the region context.