Context and Challenges of Farmers in Antananarivo (Analamanga and Itasy Regions) and Antsirabe (Vakinankaratra Region)

Management

The primary sector, representing 25% of Madagascar’s GDP, cultivates only three million of the thirty-six million hectares of arable land available, despite the Ministry of Agriculture’s ambition to promote competitive and sustainable agricultural production by 2025. The sector faces major challenges, including the impacts of climate change, outdated farming practices, deforestation, limited technologies, and unfair trade, leaving most farmers in precarious conditions and living in subsistence. How could the initiatives of stakeholders in the external environment of farmers significantly impact their production and, in the long term, their living conditions? In response to this issue, the research aims to analyze the influence of stakeholder initiatives in the external environment of farmers on the improvement of their agricultural production. This study is based on an analysis of the political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal contexts affecting farmers, complemented by structured interviews conducted in Malagasy. These interviews helped identify dominant variables and compare the priorities of farmers with those of other stakeholders. The results reveal a divergence between political and legal priorities and a convergence in economic and social dimensions, with the State focusing on innovation, while farmers emphasize "adidy," or commitment, highlighting perspectives that require better synergy among stakeholders.

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