Trade, Rural Poverty & the Environment Project Profiles

Madagascar

In Madagascar, researchers have examined two case studies that illustrate the differential effects of trade on land use and poverty. The first study investigates the effects of trade on land extensification and the loss of precious forest resources. More specifically, it looks at impacts from the expansion of maize exports from southwestern Madagascar to the island of Reunión due to a now-expired preferential trading arrangement with the European Union. This trade was linked with the loss of Madagascar’s biodiversity-rich spiny forest, since maize is mostly produced through environmentally destructive slash-and-burn techniques.

The second study highlights more positive “spillover” effects of trade liberalization, illustrating how contract farming for export can lead to the adoption of improved technologies that poor farmers might be unable to afford or use otherwise. In the country’s highlands, 8,500 small farmers are contracted to sell green beans and a variety of other vegetables to a mid-sized exporter who processes and sends them to European supermarkets. As a result of the company’s aggressive extension activities, farmers have adopted and applied sustainable agricultural techniques, including the use of natural fertilizers and windbreaks to reduce soil erosion, to their rice crops on other land.

By contrasting the findings from these two studies, lessons are being drawn about how government and the private sector can help to improve the effects of trade on land use and poverty. Madagascar is one of the world’s poorest countries, with about 70% of the population beneath the poverty line, and it is trying to balance an ambitious conservation agenda with an urgent need to address persistent rural poverty. Working with the national government, donor agencies, and other groups, WWF Madagascar will consider whether the contract farming model can be applied elsewhere in the country to generate agricultural livelihoods while reducing pressure on protected areas.

Links

WWF Madagascar project page
WWF Madagascar project brochure (in French)