Située sur les hauts plateaux proches de la capitale Antananarivo, la Région Itasy est caractérisée par des espaces agricoles fortement dégradés, avec des érosions fréquentes et des massifs forestiers en constante disparition.

Les conséquences économiques et sociales sont importantes sur une population qui tend à abandonner ces espaces ruraux pour migrer vers les centres urbains.

Dans ce contexte, le programme Mahavotra vise la professionnalisation de l’agriculture et la transition écologique comme levier d’un développement durable de la Région.  

Il s'inscrit dans un cadre de coopération décentralisée entre la Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine et la Région Itasy, en privilégiant plusieurs axes :

• coopération de territoire à territoire
• formation professionnelle agricole
• aménagement et mise en valeur des espaces agricoles
• réduction de l’empreinte environnementale

Plus de 6 000 petites exploitations agricoles familiales sont accompagnées dans la transition écologique, l’évolution vers des pratiques agro-écologiques leur permettant de s’adapter aux contraintes du milieu. Le ‘Centre Régional de Formation Agricole’ et les réseaux de ‘Maîtres-exploitants’ contribuent à l’essaimage de ces bonne pratiques sur les communes du territoire. La Région Itasy est renforcée dans sa capacité de gestion et de planification de son développement territorial ; elle peut en mesurer les effets sur le milieu naturel.

Après 10 ans, ce programme a des effets réels sur la sécurité alimentaire, l’emploi et l’amélioration des conditions de vie des populations, ainsi que sur la préservation et la résilience des territoires, entraînant une stabilisation des populations. Il contribue aux objectifs du développement durable.

Market gardenings in the Diourbel region enjoyed a flourishing period and contributed for a long time to supply Dakar’s market. But this production has gradually deteriorated and is now reduced to a few localized sites.

Main constraints are:

• lack of water control and water quality drilling;
• land and vegetation cover degradation, particularly as a result of poor farming practices and actions of water and wind erosion;

• difficult access to production factors (inputs, equipment ...);
• low crop diversification;
• low management rate in this sector;
• lack of professionalism among producers and groups;
• the aging of the rural population.

Due to the dynamic created by the 2014 -2016 pilot phase in the Diourbel area, the actions has been extended.

At the request of various Senegalese communities and because of a new context (new territorial divisions in France and Senegal), the project has expanded in the Fatick region with the same constraints:

• unfavorable productive environment (land degradation, lack of tree cover or hedging, etc.);
• unsafe market gardening perimeters (absence or deteriorated fence);
• basic work equipment (both for rainfed/vegetable crops and for livestock farming);
• poor control of technical itineraries (crops and livestock);
• difficulties to sale market gardening production

General Objective: to fight against structural poverty and food insecurity of populations in Bambey, Diourbel, Fatick and Mbacke Departments.

Specific objective: to secure and sustainably improve the agricultural activities of 350 families living in 6 villages of the 4 departments by strengthening local skills.

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This project comes from Club Med’s strong desire to strengthen the contribution of its villages to local economic development.

Club Med's tourism activities generate positive impacts, particularly in terms of local purchases, from which local communities do not always benefit as much as they could because they lack a viable economic fabric.

This commitment has led to a partnership with Agrisud International whose main mission is to the fight against poverty and for food security by creating and strengthening very small family farms.

The approach is:

• economic development: support to populations in securing and strengthening their agricultural activities to meet local market needs;
• agroecological: promotion practices environmentally friendly, reconciling development and low pressure on natural resources.

In Cap Skirring, Agrisud works in partnership with the CPAS, which promotes full development in the Ziguinchor Region.

General objective: contributing to the local economic development in the environment of the Club Med’s village in Cap skirrin

Specific Objective: promoting the development of 60 agricultural VSBs that could improve improve local markets’ supply in fresh products as well as Club Med’s village needs.

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In Cap Skirring, agriculture remains little developed compare to the high demand of the tourism sector for fruit and vegetables.

Implemented in this region since 2009, the project aims to develop agricultural VSBs to improve the local supply of fresh produce to the Club Med Village and local markets. Since then, around 170 families deliver more than 10 tons of a large variety of vegetables each year, for a turnover of more than € 10,000.

In 2014, in order to maintain these results, a project was initiated to install solar pumps in the gardens in order to guarantee access to safe and efficient irrigation water during the dry season.

(Français) Le potentiel agricole de la Région Itasy (Hauts-Plateaux malgaches) est important mais rencontre de nombreuses faiblesses et le taux de pauvreté est important. Agrisud travaille depuis 2008 à réduire ces faiblesses, avec des résultats significatifs en termes d’amélioration de la production et des revenus auprès de 3 000 familles.

On constate cependant que l'amélioration des revenus de ces familles ne s’accompagne pas forcément d’une amélioration de l’alimentation, avec des habitudes alimentaires qui évoluent peu et une situation nutritionnelle et sanitaire inquiétante qui touche les groupes les plus vulnérables, en particulier les enfants dont le taux de malnutrition chronique est de 62 % pour les moins de 5 ans.

Dans le cadre d’un partenariat avec la Fondation Bel, le projet associe aux activités de développement agricole des activités visant l'amélioration de la nutrition et de l'hygiène, en s'appuyant sur une démarche spécifique déjà mise en œuvre par Agrisud sur d'autres projets : la méthode LANN (Linking Agriculture, Natural ressources management and Nutrition).

Cette méthode utilise l’approche communautaire pour la mise en œuvre d’activités de nutrition basées à la fois sur l’amélioration de l’agriculture, de la gestion des ressources naturelles et le renforcement de capacités des femmes, et faisant le lien entre eux. Elle est assortie d’un guide nutrition qui donne les outils nécessaires pour conduire un diagnostic efficace et des actions de sensibilisation et de formation adaptées pour améliorer durablement la situation nutritionnelles des familles.

Le projet vise à adapter cette démarche à la Région Itasy en partenariat avec l’Office Régional de la Nutrition, afin d’améliorer durablement la sécurité nutritionnelle des familles en facilitant le développement de stratégies alimentaires et nutritionnelles au niveau des ménages et des communautés.

Avec le soutien de la Fondation Bel, l’ambition d’Agrisud est de donner une dimension significative à la démarche, en s’assurant d’un effet d’essaimage auprès des populations.

Agroecology and nutrition

Laos launched its National Nutrition Plan for populations living in isolated mountainous areas where undernutrition still persists.

It is a complex task that requires action on multiple levels and long-term interventions for effective and sustainable results. Agrisud in collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) engages in an innovative and dynamic project by means of an integrated approach that links agriculture with nutrition.

Project ENUFF (Enhancing Nutrition for Upland Farming Families) is implemented in 40 mountainous villages. The agricultural aspect of the project has been taken over by Agrisud. Its goal is to improve agricultural techniques thanks to agroecology, to diversify crops and establish marketing sectors. Access to healthy and adequate food is one of the main factors that improve nutrition in Laos.

Objectives: Sustainable improvement of the living conditions of farming families in the villages located in NPHL and its buffer zone by improving and diversifying their agricultural systems while preserving productive natural resources.

The National Park of Hoang Lien (NPHL) has 6 towns populated mostly by ethnic minority Hmong Day and Dao living from agriculture, forestry and traditional crafts.

These farming families face many agricultural difficulties and poverty rates remain high (53.3% on average), the main causes of poverty being:

• Lack of agricultural land due to increasing populationand land classification in protected natural park (since 2002) leading to the prohibition to open new fields of culture;
• The vulnerability of crops and livestock to climate risks;
• Low diversification of income-generating activities and high dependency on cardamom culture.

In order not to compromise the investments made in terms of drinking water distribution system by the various projects implemented within the framework of the cooperation between the Metropolis of Lyon and the Haute-Matsiatra Region, the multi-actor approach to IWRM* should prevent / reduce conflicts of use and contribute to achieve the overall objective of the Kolorano program: balancing water security and food security of populations on watersheds of intervention.

The encouraging results of the pilot project in the Zambazamba watershed (2014-2016) led to the continuation of supporting it and to replicate the IWRM approach in 9 new watersheds in the Haute Matsiatra region.

The implementation of Kolorano program’s activities is organized around five areas of intervention:

• Improve municipal governance in agricultural and forestry management;
• Development of watershed management schemes;
• Protect water resources upstream from catchments;
• Improve the productivity of water downstream of the catchments;
• Measure the impact of the program.

*Integrated Water Resources Management

In a context of strong physical degradation and increasing poverty, the goal of this project is to manage and to valorize, on a long-term basis, Limbé’s watershed. It is important to take into account the development of farming sectors and the protection of natural resources (soil, water and biodiversity). Agroecological practices implemented by the families and organizations ensure performance to technical, economic and environmental plans.

More about the 2nd Assises of decentralized Franco-Haitian cooperation,
in Port-au-Prince (from December 4th to 6th, 2017)