USAID/Madagascar - Success Stories

USAID in Africa: Success Stories: Madagascar

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›Restoring Transportation Links Rapidly after Cyclones Helps Families Maintain Incomes ›Fish Production Increases Incomes and Reduces Pressure on Natural Resources ›The Champion Community Initiative ›Investing in Promising Women in Leadership Positions Pays Off Restoring Transportation Links Rapidly after Cyclones Helps Families Maintain Incomes In early 2000, cyclones Eline and Gloria hit Madagascar’s east coast, destroying food and cash crops. Unrelenting downpours caused landslides and washouts that closed roads and rail lines, isolating families from domestic and international agricultural markets. About 700,000 families were robbed of food, farm and employment income. One six-member family, belonging to the Betsileo ethnic group, held long discussions after the cyclones hit. On their 1.5 hectare farm, they grew coffee, bananas, pepper and pineapple. All these crops depended on the rail line to get to market. Everybody worked together to produce and harvest the crops and carry them to the rail line for sale. With the rail line closed, there would be no market and no income. Without income, they would be unable to buy rice for food. Reluctantly, they decided to cut down their coffee, banana and pepper plants and other trees, too, so they could grow rice themselves. But before their work began, they saw a group of strangers coming up the rail line in a small oxen-drawn wagon. Landslides were being cleared from the track and the trains would be running again within two weeks. Good news! The Betsileo family members went back to work, preparing their crops for harvest. USAID recognized the importance of rapid restoration of rural transportation even before the cyclones struck. Money was reprogrammed quickly to clear the line and help rural families maintain their livelihoods. Subsequently, under USAID’s Southern Africa Flood Recovery program, the Betsileo and other families in the stricken area were assisted with a wide range of rehabilitation activities. Farmers planted vetiver grass and fruit trees on the denuded hillsides around their farm to prevent erosion and future landslides. Now, more than ever, they realize the value of trees and the importance of their rail link with outside markets. [an error occurred while processing this directive] Fish Production Increases Incomes and Reduces Pressure on Natural Resources In rural Madagascar, where 77 percent of the population lives in poverty, people will only abandon environmentally destructive practices such as slash-and-burn agriculture when they have alternate sources of income. Among the many alternatives promoted by USAID and its partners is fish culture, especially raising fish in rice fields. In 2000, a USAID-funded initiative arranged the sale of 7,000 fingerlings to farmers in a corridor between two national parks. A local NGO partner provided technical advice. Farmers’ groups agreed to discontinue environmentally destructive practices and asked for assistance in establishing fish nurseries to assure a constant supply of fingerlings. Individual farmer members now operate 12 commercial fingerling centers along the corridor between the parks, producing 60,000 fingerlings for local farmers. Until last year, Daniel R. had never raised fish. He had heard about farmers in a nearby village doing this, but had no knowledge of how to get started. With help from a USAID partner, he decided to experiment and learned how to establish a fish pond. When the pond was in place, he purchased 350 fingerlings of royal carp for about US$13. Four months later, he had plenty of fish to sell and to eat. His profits were US$61, about 80 percent of the average annual income in the region. Following this success, he built additional fish ponds to expand fish production. Other farmers in the area have had similar experiences and are now raising fish. About 40 percent of farmers raise royal carp directly in rice fields. After each season, they dig out the manure rich mud and use this to fertilize dry season garden plots or small parcels of land devoted to intensive rice production. Farmers report that the yields on these plots have increased significantly. Before the recent harvest, when food supplies were low, fish farmers were able to stave off hunger by eating fish and potatoes. But problems remain. Due to severe food shortages, fish theft is widespread—as is theft of other available food. Markets need to be expanded as more and more farmers take up fish production. But for the time being, fish culture is helping to reduce pressure on natural resources and providing local families with the food and income they need. [an error occurred while processing this directive] The Champion Community Initiative Is it possible to spark greater achievement among communities already well engaged in health promotion? This question led to the USAID-supported Champion Communities Initiative with Madagascar's Ministry of Health. Phase I of this activity clearly demonstrated that local leaders and community associations were enthusiastic to become "Champion Communities" by meeting a series of well-defined health targets. Phase II started by working with 24 communities, 7,000-10,000 inhabitants each, to develop and test targets that could be attained with a reasonable community effort over a six to nine month period. To promote the initiative at the village level and outline targets and steps for local officials, USAID funded an easy-to-understand publication entitled "How to Become a Champion Community" in French and Malagasy. The process of becoming a "Champion Community" first requires district health officials to prequalify a limited number of communes, e.g., those where community volunteers hold regular health promotion sessions at the local health center and also have a solid record of collaboration between local leaders and health workers. Then through meetings with community officials and leaders of local associations, targets are discussed and local activity plans drawn up. District and communal leaders have responded enthusiastically to the program's five targets for becoming a "Champion Community. These are: achieve 80 percent vaccination coverage, insure that 65 percent of all newborns have a family-friendly health card, 70 percent of all children have received 3 doses of vitamin A by their second birthday, over a 6-month period, community volunteers carry out family planning promotion activities at the health center on a weekly basis, and community insures overall cleanliness. Finally when self-monitoring indicates that a community has met the targets, the community leaders request an evaluation. Of the 24 communities participating in the Phase II program, 14 were evaluated. Of this group, 12 form the first cohort of "Champion Communities." Festivals to celebrate this achievement have been planned by the communities. In April 2001 following further adjustments and streamlining of the targets, the Champion Communities Initiative will include over 100 localities. The expanded 2001 targets reflect the most important lesson to date: successful expansion requires clear goals of recognized importance to the overall population. Since the program was first launched, progressively specific standard targets have replaced goals that are more open-ended. In a sense the playing field has become more level, something local officials requested since a key source of motivation is the desire to outshine neighboring communes. The potential of the Champion Community Initiative is perhaps best expressed in the comments of a rural mayor: "We have always had a tradition of being hard workers in our region. Now we have the chance to prove it to everyone." [an error occurred while processing this directive] Investing in Promising Women in Leadership Positions Pays Off Transforming legal education into a dynamic laboratory for the exploration of human rights issues. With USAID support in June 2000, Bakolalao Ramanandraibe Ranaivoharivony, Director of the Malagasy National Magistrate School (ENMG), participated in the World Conference for Women and Peace, or Beijing + 5 Review, in New York City. Fully cognizant of the implications of her government's endorsement of the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), upon her return Dr. Ranaivoharivony devised a strategy to address human rights violations in Madagascar. Through her position as ENMG Director, she involved her students-the next generation of Malagasy magistrates, of whom over 50 percent are women-in an innovative program on the human as well as the legal dimensions of domestic violence. This initiative received an enthusiastic response from the students. Together they wrote and produced a play on wife beating that was videotaped for broadcast on national television. The airing of the provocative program on African Women's Day in July 2000 met with acclaim by the public and the press. Applying advanced strategies for the promotion of microfinance. As part of its support for expanded access to financial services in Madagascar, USAID identified two candidates to attend the high-level course on "Financial Institutions for Private Enterprise Development" at Harvard University in June 2000. Both women play key roles in the development of microfinance in Madagascar: Emma Andrianansolo Randreza, director of the Banking and Finance Supervision Commission (CSBF) at Madagascar's Central Bank; and Monah Andriambalo, secretary general of the Professional Association of Mutual Financial Institutions (APIFM). Following current "best practices," Madagascar's regulatory approach to microfinance continues to be more analytical than repressive, encouraging innovation and experimentation among practitioners. Ms. Randreza and Ms. Andriambalo are making significant contributions to the evolution of microfinance in Madagascar at the regulatory and local cooperative levels. In addition to applying the knowledge they acquired during the course in the exercise of their professional duties, they have jointly planned a series of technical workshops on regulatory and supervisory banking activities for microfinance institutions to begin in May 2001. Heeding the advice of women vice-presidents to enter politics. Energized, focussed, and determined. These are words that describe the USAID-supported delegation upon their return from the Global Summit for Women in Johannesburg, South Africa, in October 2000. At the conference they heard outspoken female government leaders, including the vice presidents of South Africa, Uganda, and the Philippines, insist that women business leaders enter politics to ensure that nation's laws reflect their interests. When they returned to Antananarivo, two members of the delegation decided to move into action. Lalao Raketamanga and Elia Ravelomanantsoa entered the December 2000 election for provincial council members, the first election to set-up decentralized government in the country's six provinces, as independent candidates. Ms. Raketamanga garnered enough votes to win a seat on the council and became one of seven female members of the 76 member provincial council in the capital region of Madagascar. During provincial council debates on the regional business environment, Ms. Raketamanga will have the opportunity to represent female business owners, whose concerns she knows well. [an error occurred while processing this directive] More about USAID/ Madagascar ›Country Information ›FY 2002 Budget Justification USAID/ AFR Success Stories skip redundant nav ›Benin ›DR Congo ›Eritrea ›Ethiopia ›Ghana ›Guinea ›Kenya ›Liberia ›Madagascar ›Malawi ›Mali ›Namibia ›Rwanda ›Senegal ›Somlia ›South Africa ›Sudan ›Tanzania ›Uganda ›Zambia ›Zimbabwe ›RCSA ›REDSO/ESA

Updated: Wednesday, January 9, 2002

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