Rice Raises Incomes and Awareness

USAID supports Malagasy farmers to export red rice that is used to raise awareness

The Zurich Zoo's Masoala Hall that exhibits Malagasy flora and fauna held a promotional week for European buyers of Malagasy red rice. Pairing the Malagasy farm product with markets has resulted in the export of red rice and raised incomes for the farmers. In addition to generating interest in Madagascar's agriculture, the events at the zoo highlight Madagascar's unique natural environment. Photo Credit: WCS

Largely in isolation for 160 million years, Madagascar devel-oped a wide array of unusual and often unique organisms. More than 80% of this astounding diversity of flora and fauna appear nowhere else in the world. The island's biodiversity, however, has been severely threatened - a hectare of Mada-gascar forest lost has a greater negative impact on global bio-diversity than a hectare of forest lost virtually anywhere else on earth. Yet, 80% of the Malagasy population lives in rural areas and makes its living through subsistence agriculture. A large part of this rural population depends on slash-and-burn cultiva-tion for their livelihood pursuit. This makes the country one of the world's highest biodiversity conservation priorities.

In an effort to support farmers to conserve forest resources and improve their agricultural yields, USAID has contributed to the development of the National Confederation of Koloharena, a farmers' association with local, regional, and national represen-tation. The Koloharena are producing red rice using a technique known as System of Rice Intensification (SRI). The SRI ap-proach allows farmers to increase their yields on existing agri-cultural lands, thus reducing the pressure on forests.

In a promotional event, the Zurich Zoo's Masoala Hall, which features flora and fauna from the Masoala peninsula of Mada-gascar, invited European buyers to test Malagasy red rice and to visit the exhibit. As a result, the USAID funded Koloharena linked the Malagasy producers to European buyers including SwissRe, and they are now exporting red rice to Europe. The direct producer-buyer relationship has cut out the middle man and ensures that farmers receive a fair price for their product.

In addition, the Zurich Zoo is now considering offering Mala-gasy red rice to Zoo visitors in its cafeteria. Linking Malagasy farm products with the Zoo is proving a successful model for increasing the awareness of Madagascar's unique biodiversity while increasing the country's economic benefits.