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Madagascar
Currently, there are no ongoing activities, suspended due to insecurity that prevailed in recent years in Madagascar.
Farmers practice soil and water management techniques. Water is carefully managed, both communally and individually, to ensure adequate water supplies for rice fields. Traditional conservation methods have been thwarted in recent years by a large increase in hillside cultivation resulting in sedimentation of canals. There has long been a tradition of incorporating farmyard manure into fields, mainly into rice nurseries and onto cash crops during the dry season (on the rice fields). Such supplies appear to be dwindling throughout the highlands due to the decrease in land for grazing to support livestock (cattle). There are almost no small ruminants, but farmers do own a range of poultry. Some farmers purchase fertiliser in some areas, but manure is almost always used for the cash crops. There is a significant development effort to improve soil conservation management on the hillsides, but this is in its infancy and erosion is visible at all the locations. Fallowing in the tanety, often necessary to restore fertility, is practiced to varying degrees. Burning of the upper areas of the hillsides has the major benefit of increasing runoff of water and nutrients (ash) to lower areas and regeneration of grass to feed livestock. Burning is practiced more widely when the rains are late. The soils in all the study site areas are acidic, often very low in phosphorous and occasionally in other micro-nutrients. This results in few crop options and/or varieties that can be grown on the tanety. The relationship of the amount of riziere area, tanety and higher slopes with grassland and trees limits the options that farmers can exploit in any given location. Another physical limitation in these highland areas is seasonal frost. There are significant differences between the benchmark site locations as discussed below. The Antananarivo location is unique mainly due to its proximity to the capital. This proximity has created a more diverse household economy in which a significant percentage of labour and income is focused off-farm. Wage rates are consequently higher and there is an emphasis on selling farm products. The land tenure situation is also unique in that a sizeable portion of land had traditionally been owned by elites. Their ancestors have largely become more interested in urban activities but retain control over significant land areas in the surrounding rural areas. They have therefore rented the areas to tenants, which has led to a situation in which land is managed largely by decision makers who lack full rights over these resources. Antsirabe is a centre of production for many agricultural products. It is the major producer of milk, potatoes and apples for all of Madagascar and also produces large amounts of other crops such as rice, wheat and vegetables. This is related mainly to the area's biophysical characteristics: plains (large riziere areas) and plateaus and relatively fertile soils (of volcanic origin in some areas). Consequently, major processors of grains and milk are located in Antsirabe, which further increases market incentives to farmers. Almost all riceland is cultivated during the wet and dry seasons and a large share of the hillside has recently been turned into cropland. Given its high altitude, Antsirabe faces a higher risk of frost than do the other sites. The Fianarantsoa site focused on establishing their strategy, defining the specific activities and focus of the work plan and organized the inputs necessary to accomplish the work. It was agreed that the main thrust of the research is to improve NRM and agricultural productivity using "action research" or a participatory technology development process. The central project is to improve land management, with secondary components of improving bas fond (rice land) and "tanety" (cultivated middle hillside slopes) soil fertility, crop-livestock interactions, and possibly IPM. The specific program, given its participatory nature, was confirmed by farmers. The overall objectives of AHI for the Fianarantsoa site were explained to a number of local organizations who were invited to participate: the Association of Nation Environmental Actions (ANAE), Association Tefy Saina, VATSY (an NGO), Sampan'Asa Fampandrosoana (SAF-FJKM), Circonscription de la Vulgarisation Agricole (CIAGRI—Extension) among others. The team was formed to include various disciplines and both research and development partners needed to implement the work plan. The collaboration with the farming communities was started, in particular with two pilot sites: Sahasoa and Isomotra. The strategy adopted was to help them to understand their needs and then to provide an interface between the communities and those that could help them address their prioritised needs. An element of sustainability was to be built in, so that the communities could continue if the project pulled out. Challenges faced during this year included: people were hesitant to get involved, some organizations did not carry out the plans fully and some are not well versed in R&D methods, communication between partners is difficult, some organizations have low salaries and hence low motivation for staff, the land use management plan still requires work, expectations are high, there is limited socio-economic experience, the project support staff are insufficient and finances arrived late. On the positive side, the situation analysis was exhaustive, there is a start in organizing the communities and MPAIHY has high hopes, various activities have been organized and have started, there has been a enlarged realization by farmers of the possible improvements that can be made and techniques that can be used. The presence of innovative farmers helps and generally, the farmers have an open attitude and are seeking information and advice. There is a conviction that the AHI approach can make a difference—the use of participatory technology development, the existence of a number of useful technologies that can be drawn upon, and the synergies between the partners so the approach can be diffused across the region. Complementary diagnostics Land management issues were characterized in five problem areas with associated examples: ecological (low soil fertility, insufficient water, diminishing vegetation cover), economic (low returns to natural capital and money, poverty, making ends meet), technical (lack of information and training, insufficiently techniques, inefficient services), cultural (lack of information, abandonment of traditional values, individualistic approaches, social breakdown) and social (health and sanitation, malnutrition, inadequate education for children and adults, social tensions, marginalization of selected groups). A conceptual framework was developed to illustrate the problem relationships and ranking. It was agreed that insufficient water is the main problem. Then, soil fertility, where there are insufficient sources of fertilizer including manure (due to insufficient number of animals who stay near enough), and then lack of biomass to make compost. It was from here that the idea to create a "seed bank" arose to supply trees, forages etc. to solve the various issues, including erosion and to intensify production in general. In addition to this, the rural population needs to increase their capacity and to take control of development actions themselves. This will be approached in a stepwise fashion. Subsequently, the analysis went deeper with communities analysing sub-systems and their interactions and helped to develop the relationship between the researchers and the farmers. The discussion covered the demographic situation 3 past generations and projected 4 generations into the future. They reviewed the expansion of the village, the subdivision of the rice and hillside farms, the disappearance of the forest and the lowering of their assets over time. This led into more specific analyses of the causes and solutions within sub-systems of land use scenarios. The rice growing area was considered first as most important, and focus here should be on improving fertility, better water management and improving availability of seeds. The "tanety" was of lower socio-economic importance, and its main problem is low soil fertility where recycling biomass, arresting erosion which deposits soil into the rice field, and linking improvement to growing economic products was targeted. Lastly, livestock were seen as important for both of these sub-systems: it supplies manure, power and in certain situations uses the "tanety" for grazing. Forages and vet services were two areas needing improving. Strategy developed for the two pilot sites The discussion was facilitated by the researchers and taken through various stages. First, it was jointly decided that there was no central or community group that ensured good use of resources, that problems were there, as also demonstrated by some photos, analysis and testimonies of the individuals of the area. Existing groups had other socio-economic purposes. They agreed that the problems were created through individual actions and that there was no communal group to ensure solutions were found. Problems of communal nature included: need to reclaim and improve irrigation canals that had ruptured; arresting small streams in the gulleys that were causing erosion, loss of water, and were a risk to valley water management; fires that burned large areas to improve pasture but were annihilating trees; abandoned land that has been eroded and was causing more erosion. A local committee, called MPAIHY, was therefore formed that would take charge and coordinate implementation of an action plan that was aimed at solving the identified problems, and offered supervision to ensure the work was carried out. Members represented different interest groups. In addition, community facilitators were put into place as a contact person to assist the committee and community members in solving the problems and to be a source of encouragement. They started off by considering different options, but settled on rehabilitation of some micro-dams as the first step along with seed bank establishment. Establishment of individual and communal seed, biomass, wood and forage banks Villagers said that they were using older varieties from often poor quality seed, and that good quality seed of new varieties was expensive to buy. Various women groups required seed for cash crops that could be grown in the off-season. They decided to embark on establishing a communal "seed bank", where the seed produced would be distributed to anyone. The decided to include: rice, potato, peas, maize, beans, groundnuts as crops and tephrosia, tithonia, pigeon pea, fleminga and sesbania for biomass production. A study on forage species would identify best bets for multiplication. Agroforestry specie materials were already prevalent. Various problems had to be solved: land for the seed bank, and large amounts of seed to start off. Calculations were made, for example, that Tephrosia could cover 100 ha of the tanety, that 40 kg/ha of seed is needed. This would require 2 ha of land to produce, if each person required 80 kg of seeds. Nurseries were also to be established for coffee, papaya, leucaena and avocado. Improve natural resources of land use systems Improving management of the tanety Species selected for this test were: tephrosia, tithonia, Sesbania macrantha and S. bipinosa, Cajanas cajan and Crotalaria grahamiana. A number of families volunteered to test compost making and application from these materials with 5-10 tons per year as a goal. This was to be applied in the "tanety" and the rice area. Three problems in 1998 interfered with this activity: lack of sufficient seed, grass hoppers and delayed rains. Improving management of the bas fonds (rice fields) The first step was to improve water management by rehabilitation of small dams. Fifteen hectares would be made available for off-season production of cabbage, potato, tomato, and green manures. Additionally, five new rice varieties, SRI technique, and some fertilization methods were to be tested. Diversifying species for feed and wood Several species were selected for testing with farmers and to look at production levels under farmer conditions: Pennisetum purpureum, Glycine wightii, Centrosema pubescens, Puevaria javanica, Tephrosia vogelli, Cajanas cajans, Desmodium uncinatum, and Leucaena leucocephala. Tephrosia is not edible, even though its seed has a high level of protein, but cajanas and leucaena were selected as best-bets. These can be used as species in the anti-erosion strips. Grevillea blanc, Acacia mearnsii, A. crassicarpa and Leucaena leucocephala were tested for fire wood and Acacia meangium, Eucalyptus citriodora, E. camaldulensis and E. fraxinus were tested for wood lots. The trees were started at the Catholic mission and was taken over by a new school who are continuing observations. The benchmark site, Ambohibary and the pilot site, Ambanimaso, were chosen. There are five organizations involved: FOFIFA, FIFAMANOR, CIRAGRI, CIRPV and the NGO TED. They made a joint action plan for five years. The themes include integrated soil fertility management, livestock integration, IPM, and C&D. Improve soil fertility Minimum tillage and direct seeding Cover crop species Inorganic and organic fertilizer combinations on rice Testing compost making methods Strategy to raise awareness for reforestation to control erosion and improve management of soil and water TED trained farmers to raise awareness of the importance of reafforestation of the hillsides near their villages to provide fuel wood, timber and soil protection. They decided to grow 24,000 pine and eucalyptus tree seedlings, were then trained in nursery management and planted the tress with 75% survival rate. |
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