Madagascar: Just add water, better seeds and new knowledge

Communities in southern Madagascar have a wealth of experience in dealing with the unforgiving, arid conditions of their region, but not even their finely honed farming skills and knowledge passed down for generations can withstand the relentless drought.

"Drought is the cancer of southern Madagascar. It creeps up, and once you start to address the problem, it's too late," Tovo Hery Zo Roabijaona, Director of the government's Early Warning System (SAP) in the south, told IRIN.

Three consecutive years of drought and meagre harvests have pushed families beyond their means, putting thousands at risk of hunger. "People here are very resilient; they have adapted to live with droughts over many years. With a little bit of water they would be able to manage - but now [drought] is too often, and it is getting worse."

Roabijaona told IRIN that climate change was intensifying the droughts, but land degradation and a population boom have also contributed to the crisis. "Lack of rain is at the heart of the problem ... the drought used to occur every 10 years, then every five; now we have drought every year."

The UN Country Team noted in its report, Humanitarian Situation in Madagascar, compiled in May 2009, that drought was common in the south, but this year it was again worse than in 2008: an estimated 250,000 people were currently affected by food insecurity, compared to 100,000 in the same period in 2008.

Krystyna Bednarska, head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Madagascar, acknowledged that the problem was escalating. "[The] most recent rapid assessment by WFP in April confirmed that 100 percent of 160 sampled households in 16 food insecure communes were 'severely food insecure'".

Roabijaona suggested that as the region was becoming drier with each passing year, the recurring donations of emergency food assistance and seemingly permanent development programmes to improve food security would not be enough: "We really need to change," he said.

Growing better food

Cultivation practices in the region already reflect strategies to limit risk: most of Madagascar produces rice as the staple crop, but southern farmers plant maize, cassava, sweet potatoes, peanuts and beans because the differing production cycles allow them to spread risk, given the unpredictable and limited rainfall.

Now, help is on the way. A programme offering improved seeds and alternative drought-resistant crop varieties, supplied by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), with financing from the European Union, and new farming techniques and inputs from partners like the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), is targeting over 5,000 farmers.

Jean-Paul Remanoby, widely regarded as the champion farmer in Anjanavelo, a small community some 40km inland from the island's southern coast, was selected by his peers to be the first recipient. "I already know a lot about farming here, but I am learning more with these new ways," he told IRIN.

Part of the deal is that he has to pass on his newly acquired skills to other farmers in the village and grow new seeds for those next in line. "He is now the good example," said Farasoa Ravelomandeha, CARE's Technical Coordinator for the project.

Besides establishing quality seed multiplication and training, new crop varieties like short-cycle maize and beans are being introduced. "The advantage is that with a short cycle you need less rain," Ravelomandeha said.

FAO is reintroducing sorghum, which is far less vulnerable to dry spells and used to be widely produced and consumed, but years of drought and food insecurity meant farmers resorted to eating their seed stock, and the remaining stock had degenerated. Remanoby said he had already cultivated enough sorghum seeds for the next beneficiary.

Catch what you can

In nearby Ifotaka, a small town, people who traditionally depended on agriculture and livestock but have come to rely on food donated by WFP feeding programmes, are participating in WFP Food-for-Work projects - initiatives geared towards restoring self self-sufficiency.

Madame Vatsasy, 56, happy with the opportunity to work for 45 days, earns a daily family ration of 2kg of rice and 300g of pulses that supports her, her husband and 12 children.

She is one of some 50 participants digging the huge catchment basin of the rainwater harvester her community has chosen to build. "We used to have to walk very far to get water, but I'll be happier if there is actually enough rain to fill the rain catcher." If her wish is granted, it will supply water to farmers in the area.

"In the short term, of course, people are provided with food; in the long term they are provided with access to water, and ultimately food and healthier livestock," said CARE's Ravelomandeha. "Another advantage, because they receive food to eat, is that this helps protect their seeds – they won't consume them."

tdm/he