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Forest agroecology in the Bongolava region

  • Winner 2026

The Little Baobab 38

Context

The region of Bongolava, 220 km west of Antananarivo, Madagascar, has lost most of its forest cover in less than fifty years. The trees were cut down for construction timber, fodder, and especially firewood, without being replanted. Today, recurring bushfires and increasingly severe droughts prevent the forest from regenerating naturally. The soils are becoming depleted and the crops are suffering. Wood fuel, which has become scarce and expensive, is placing a heavy burden on household budgets. The association The Little Baobab 38 The organization has been working in the commune of Bemahatazana since 2015. Between 2016 and 2021, it carried out its first agroecological project there: orchards were planted on 5 hectares of sloping, infertile land using the half-moon technique. The results sparked interest among farmers in neighboring communes. Several municipalities then requested to benefit from a reforestation project. This project began in 2023, in partnership with...’Association of Farmers for Inter-Professional Development (APDIP), a local farmers' organization that brings together more than 600 members, and with the technical support of Network of Agroecologists Without Borders (RAESF). This second phase is a continuation of the previous one.

  • Country: Madagascar
  • Location: Bongolava
  • Sector of intervention:
    Agriculture, Food Sovereignty
  • La Guilde Grant: €10,000
  • Project cost: €36,633
  • Project leader: Le Petit Baobab 38
  • In partnership with: Farmers' Association for Inter-Professional Development
Funder(s):
• La Guilde

Project objectives

  • Restoring the vegetation cover of Bongolava, by producing and planting thousands of fruit, forest and fertilizer trees among farmers.
  • Structuring a local network of nursery owners to create a new income-generating activity, particularly for women.
  • To sustainably disseminate agroforestry practices, through the training of nurserymen and planters, with two goals: to achieve a plant recovery rate of more than 80 %, and to enable farmers to produce their own plants.

Activities

  • Recruitment and training of nursery workers : information meetings in each municipality, followed by training in agroecological nursery techniques and the provision of a starter kit.
  • Recruitment and training of planters : meetings in each fokontany, then training in planting, tree maintenance and protection against bushfires and stray animals.
  • Plant distribution : the plants are purchased from nurseries by the project, then distributed at the beginning of the rainy season to the planters who have prepared their planting holes.
  • Field monitoring : regular visits by the APDIP technician to the nurseries and planted plots, to advise beneficiaries and check the maintenance of the trees.
  • Evaluation and management : RAESF's semi-annual missions to measure the plant recovery rate, steering committee meetings and financial monitoring.

Direct beneficiaries

233 people including nurserymen or future nurserymen, as well as the farmers who plant the trees on their own plots and who will benefit from the multiple advantages that the trees provide in the short and medium term (soil protection, production of wood or fruit, etc.).

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Through its Microprojects division, the La Guilde association, in partnership with the French Development Agency, supports the implementation of microprojects in the service of sustainable development internationally.