This picture shows Madagascar´s poverty problem. The country is ranked 143rd out of the 177 countries classified according to the human development index of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Malagasy life expectancy is only just over 55 years, and 84 out of every 1,000 children die before the age of 5. The lack of hygiene, chronic malnutrition and the lack of access to drinking water encourage the development of such infectious diseases as respiratory ailments, tuberculosis and hepatitis. Toliara Province in the south-west of the island has the highest rate of poverty, with 80 per cent of its inhabitants living in poverty. This capture was taken in this province, in a town called Ifaty.