Poverty in Maldives

Maldives has made good progress with human development and has already achieved the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to poverty reduction, health and education. However, the country’s unique geography renders its tiny population vulnerable to unpredictable behaviour of the natural world and the global economy alike. The traumatic devastation of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami triggered initial predictions that development in Maldives would be set back by a generation – the argument being that reconstruction costs (estimated at $470 million) represented more than half of the country’s GDP and that the loss of livelihoods from key industries such as tourism were proportionately more significant than in other countries hit by the disaster.

Crafts, Maldives © Zulaal Zaeem

In the event such fears have not been realised. An MDG progress report published in 2007 states that income poverty fell “significantly” in the 2 years immediately following the tsunami, thanks to generous aid of $368 million in that period which created work opportunities linked to reconstruction and ensured the rapid return of tourism. However, recovery has been far from straightforward for the 10% of the population displaced by the disaster. The country’s capacity for efficient allocation of such a vast sum was inevitably challenged and 10,000 Maldivians were still displaced more than two years after the disaster.

A 2004 MDG assessment just prior to the tsunami showed that all measures of poverty in Maldives had fallen by more than half in the period from 1997. Universal access to primary education was also recorded, together with exceptionally high adult literacy. As a “least developed country” (LDC), Maldives was scheduled by the UN to graduate to middle income status but, due to the tsunami, this was postponed to 2011. Aspiration to the standards of fully developed countries is inhibited by the expense of delivering social and economic services to over 20 “atolls” (small groups of inhabited islands) dispersed across 90 000 square kilometers. The government has promoted the concept of “population and development consolidation” which will involve relocation of the “most vulnerable” Maldivians from the smaller islands. As yet the plan is voluntary and low key.

Health in Maldives

Maldives transportation © Zulaal Zaeem

Although health indicators are on target, the provision of health services to all Maldivians is difficult and expensive. Rural populations have limited access to hospitals and emergency care which raises particular issues for maternal health. However, mortality rates have fallen sharply from about 500 per 100,000 births in 1990 to just 59 in 2006. Child and infant mortality rates have also fallen to the extent that there is no variation between rural areas and the capital, Male. The MDG report attributes this to the improved availability of health facilities in the Atolls and the introduction of speedboat emergency services.

Maldives also has a high prevalence of the genetic blood disorder, Thalassaemia. WHO Maldives estimates that one sixth of the population are carriers of the disease and one in every 250 children is born with the full blown condition. Provision of health services to these children has been limited, though local NGOs such as the Society for Health Education (SHE) are involved in local screening projects and awareness campaigns.
Food Security in Maldives

coconut seller © Zulaal Zaeem

In commenting favourably on the progress in poverty reduction, the 2007 MDG report draws attention to how quickly households in Maldives fall below the poverty line in response to adverse circumstances. There will be much concern over the current crisis in world food prices; due to poor soil quality, agricultural activities in Maldives are limited and the government imports large volumes of rice, flour and sugar. Almost all fresh fruit and vegetables are also imported. This dependence on the prices and availability of imported foodstuff will be painfully exposed through 2008 and beyond.

The shortage and high cost of fresh food has created a longstanding problem of malnutrition among children in the Maldives. Although the proportion of malnourished children has declined from 45% in 1997 to about 25%, this figure remains unacceptably high. The government is trying to stimulate local fruit farming as well as striving to raise awareness of the importance of nutrition.
Climate Change in Maldives

Addu Atoll. Maldives © Karin Afeef

Maldives is one of the countries that is most vulnerable to rising sea levels caused by global warming. In offering an upper estimate of 0.59m for the potential rise in sea level by 2100, the 2007 assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stresses that scientific uncertainties over carbon feedback loops have not been taken into account so that this is not an “upper bound” prediction. 80% of the land area in Maldives is less than 1m above mean sea-level and 47% of houses are less than 100m from the coastline. The combination of high tides and storm surges that occur usually during May will clearly pose an ever-increasing threat of devastating consequences for the country. Ominously, an unprecedented number of 55 islands were inundated in the storm surge in May 2007.

Submersion of the Maldives beneath the waves is an image of doom exploited by many climate change activists. The Maldivians themselves appear in no mood to succumb. An emerging strategy of “safer islands” reinforces the development plans for “population and development consolidation” in that people from the lower lying islands might relocate to others more suitable where they can be protected against sea intrusion. One third of the population already lives in Male, surrounded by a sea wall and dependent on expensive desalination plants for water supplies.

From a very long list of potential adaptation projects, the government’s National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) identifies the priorities as coastal protection and population movement. It acknowledges that the upper end of IPCC predictions would bring regular inundation of “almost all islands”. Salt water intrusion will also be damaging to food production whilst any reduction in rainfall will affect the majority of the Atoll populations who rely on rainwater harvesting for their source of water. The NAPA attempts no costings - adaptation funding proposals that emerged from the Bali Conference in 2007 do not remotely approach the urgent needs of countries such as Maldives. However, in a radical development in 2008, Maldives was successful in lobbying the UN Human Rights Council to assess whether the threat to survival posed by climate change amounts to violation of human rights.
The Economy in Maldives

Fishing, Maldives © Zulaal Zaeem

The Maldivian economy is considered stable but highly vulnerable, due to the sensitive nature of the two main industries of tourism and fisheries. The Maldivian government advocates a liberal trade environment and its policies have been, to a large extent, focused on the private sector. The legal structure for trade and investment is currently being reformed to further benefit the private sector and to promote a more transparent economic environment.

The first tourist resort opened in 1972 on Kurumba Island, in Male atoll and since then the country has undergone tremendous economic and social change. More than a quarter of a million people visit Maldives annually. More than 70 islands are developed for tourism and in 2007 the industry contributed 28% of GDP. Although this undoubtedly contributes enormously to the local economy, there are concerns that the local workforce is not participating sufficiently in it. There is high youth unemployment in Maldives. In some resorts, nearly two-thirds of employees are expatriate workers, mostly from neighbouring South Asian countries. The absence of minimum wage legislation and labour laws are also serious concerns.


The OneWorld Maldives Guide was first published in December 2004 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Karin Afeef.

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