The MaMaBay region in the north of Madagascar is in particularly great need of protection as one of the world’s most biodiverse places. But rapid population growth and a lack of income sources have led farmers to cultivate swathes of forest for foodstuffs, cocoa, cloves and vanilla. This deforestation erodes the soil and reduces its fertility, thereby further accelerating the exploitation of cultivation areas and hence deforestation. HALBA and its partners, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the German International Development Agency (GIZ), have jointly launched a sustainability project to tackle this issue. The project has been ongoing since 2019.
The project promotes the sustainable cultivation of cocoa through dynamic agroforestry (DAF). Its objective is to establish a new cocoa value chain that will improve income opportunities in the region. This is intended to reduce the farmers’ dependency on vanilla, currently their only export product, and contribute to their food safety.
With DAF, farmers can grow a wide range of other food products in addition to vanilla and cocoa all year round on less land, which yields them a higher income and ensures that their food needs are met. At the same time, forests that are essential for biodiversity are retained and protected. 200 farmers are set to cultivate 90 hectares of DAF by 2023. 19 farmers have been trained to become agroforestry trainers. Since 2022, they have trained 97 farmers and cultivated 37.7 hectares of DAF land. The sustainability project also supports two cooperatives in improving their organisational structures and expanding the cocoa value chain.
