Interview with Fanomezantsoa Lucien Ranarivelo, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MAEP), who is driving accelerated economic growth in the rural world through a transformational vision of agriculture, livestock and fisheries.
What investments are needed for the development of the Malagasy agricultural sector?
As outlined in the President's vision, the agricultural sector's primary objective is food self-sufficiency. We must address the sector's shortcomings and elevate its performance to a higher level for the benefit of the entire value chain. To achieve this, we need investments in agricultural mechanization, new land improvements for cultivation and agricultural perimeters, processing units, capacity building, and training for all stakeholders, particularly the producers on the numerous family farms in Madagascar. As you know, while Madagascar possesses significant agricultural potential, less than 101,000 TPH of this potential is currently being utilized.
Regarding rice, the key indicator of food self-sufficiency, we must transform from a net importer to a net exporter for the region and the African continent. We need to ensure a substantial increase in our rice production, which means investing in the development of new irrigated areas and upgrading all existing ones in Madagascar. The goal is to develop 100,000 hectares of new agricultural land. All the sites have already been identified, and this major project is nearing completion. Currently, after only two years in the President's term, 20,000 hectares of new rice-growing areas have been developed.
In the south of the island, we must adapt to the consequences of climate change. With droughts becoming increasingly frequent, we must develop resilient and adapted agriculture. The development of technologies, such as water-saving drip micro-irrigation systems, will help compensate for this lack of rainfall without the need to transport water. It is imperative to use the limited available water efficiently, whether it be irrigation water from boreholes or pipelines from the wetlands of southeastern Madagascar.
How do you plan to promote the blue economy?
We have 5,000 kilometers of coastline and 1.5 million square kilometers of exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Unfortunately, our ocean area is less rich than the maritime regions of Mauritania or Morocco, but we must nevertheless seize this opportunity. This is particularly relevant as we are currently undertaking a major reform of our fisheries management to ensure that this sector contributes to the country's development through transparent management, good governance, and sustainable resource management. This comprehensive reform will increase the sector's contribution to the economy, particularly in terms of royalties and access to our resources. To make this sector attractive, we will invest across the entire value chain, from fishing to processing, ultimately creating jobs. Vessels fishing in our economic zones must be able to land their catch in Madagascar and process it within the local fishing industry. Therefore, we will invest in developing infrastructure to attract investors to operate with good governance and transparency in our territorial waters and to land their fishery products in Madagascar. This will also support the local population and downstream industries throughout the value chain.
How do you encourage agribusiness?
In fact, the problem facing the agribusiness sector in Madagascar lies in the availability of raw materials. Currently, agricultural products do not meet the criteria for quantity, quality, and regularity of supply for processing. This is because a large portion of agricultural production—whether for farming, livestock, or fishing—is carried out by small, somewhat fragmented, and insufficiently organized family farms.
We aim to finalize a win-win partnership between agribusinesses that source their supplies from small-scale producers and the producers themselves. We are currently developing a legal framework to ensure this partnership contributes to the development and promotion of contract farming, which we call the agricultural aggregation model. In this model, agribusiness investors support small-scale producers in their production activities, and the small-scale producers supply the agribusinesses while adhering to quality standards and ensuring consistent product quantities. This is the core idea behind the reform we are implementing. While some producer groups do exist, they remain relatively few in number. One of the challenges is that cooperatives don't see the benefit of joining forces until a guaranteed market is established. Vanilla is a crucial sector, a benchmark for Madagascar, but it is essential that there be a similar win-win partnership between producers and agribusinesses.