Status: active

Agriculture accounts for between 25 and 30% of Madagascar’s GDP, generating 30 to 40 per cent of exports. About 80% of Madagascar’s working age population depend on agriculture with rice the main food crop. The country has excellent potential for agricultural development due to rich natural resources, but is also seeing the effects of climate change. An estimated one quarter of the population (approximately 5 million people) live in zones at high risk of natural disasters. Farmer livelihoods were disrupted by a severe 2022 cyclone season, following two years of extreme drought. Since mid-January, the country has been hit by five tropical weather events. The two most severe, Cyclones Batisrai and Emnati, within 2 weeks of each other, were particularly devastating to many small farming towns and villages in the targeted regions. The crippling economic impact of having homes, farms, livestock, and communal infrastructure destroyed, has further reduced farmers’ already modest purchasing power and ability to secure quality inputs. Heavily damaged roads have increased travel time and disrupt farmers’ access to markets and extension services. The consequence is that many more smallholder farming families are now food insecure themselves leading to malnutrition, especially in pregnant and lactating women and young children.