Profiles and Practices of Farmers in The Commune of Andranomafana, Antsirabe Region

MANAGEMENT

Antsirabe is the leading potato-producing area and the top dairy producer, supplying neighboring zones and the entire country. It also benefits from three watersheds providing necessary irrigation and favorable pedoclimatic conditions for crops. However, development challenges remain, including land tenure security, product distribution across zones, and the collection and monitoring of product payments. Farmers in this area face particularly precarious living conditions. How can agricultural resources be optimized to improve farmers’ living conditions in the short, medium, and long term? This study, conducted in Andranomafana (Betafo district), aims to identify obstacles to sector development for sustainable resource management. Semi-structured interviews with over fifty farmers were conducted using open questions in Malagasy. Interaction analysis and influence-dominance ordering were applied to identify internal factors. Data were first processed using Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) to determine farmer profiles based on production factors. Benchmarking was then performed to evaluate current management practices against ideal scenarios. Correlation analysis revealed that farm size, labor use, and equipment are the main production factors, interacting in this order. Results identified two classes of producers. Benchmarking showed that both classes are far from ideal management practices. Agriculture remains the main local activity; while some farmers earn a decent income, others remain subsistence producers.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.