Sustainable agriculture and food systems Agricultural value chain development

    Even though Madagascar has contributed nearly nothing to human-made climate change, the island is one of the countries that are most affected by it. Extreme weather events are on the rise. Cyclones and droughts regularly cause harvest loss and significant damage. The southern part of the country, which is particularly poor, is currently experiencing a humanitarian crisis that is significantly fuelled by climate change. Due to persistent drought, more than one million people are experiencing hunger.

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    Madame Filao inspects her castor oil plants.

    Madame Filao inspects her castor oil plants.

    Madame Filao inspects her castor oil plants.

    While agriculture is an important sector of Madagascar's economy, there is a lack of economically significant value chains. Most farmers are smallholders. Fields are fragmented and often difficult to access. Farming, livestock and processing techniques are mostly traditional, and farmers and processing enterprises are usually not organised in associations. Adaptation to climate change is a huge challenge for local communities.

    German activities

    A woman in Togo harvests lettuce. She carries a toddler on her back.

    Special Initiative “Transformation of Agricultural and Food Systems” Internal link

    The GIZ project ”Adaptation of agricultural value chains to climate change (External link)“ is contributing to food security, especially in southern Madagascar. Support is provided in three regions to the production, processing and marketing of peanuts, millet, honey, ginger, fish, castor oil, goats and sheep, onions, coffee, cloves, pepper and vanilla. Farmers are given better access to market and weather information, climate-adapted seeds and modern production techniques. The introduction of climate risk insurance enables them to get protection against income loss caused by extreme weather events.

    The BMZ also supports food security in Madagascar through its Special Initiative ”Transformation of Agricultural and Food Systems, for example through efforts against soil erosion and for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, and through numerous public-private partnerships, especially in the field of sustainable agriculture.


    to the overview page on Madagascar