2022 - 2024
Ending hunger together
Description
People in Madagascar organized into solidarity groups are working towards a sustainable food system and better living conditions.
On the island of Madagascar, located some 400 kilometres off the coast of East Africa in the Indian Ocean, food supplies are uncertain. The main reasons for this are heat and drought, lack of access to water and a lack of legal protection for land ownership, which would make it possible to enforce claims. The country, which has the fifth lowest per capita income in the world, also lacks a developed infrastructure and a functioning state system. In addition, frequent tropical cyclones bring rain to the country but also cause devastating destruction. 80% of the population lives from agriculture. After the harvest, many of them are forced to sell their products at rock-bottom prices to pay off accumulated debts for school fees and medicine. People are forced to take out usurious loans to cover their basic needs at much higher prices because there is a shortage of food and money during the time between harvests. As a consequence, individuals experience malnourishment, poverty, debt bondage, and the accumulation of additional debt.
Vision
In order to eradicate hunger, secure food supplies, and eliminate debt, solidarity groups should be established in collaboration with local partner organizations.
Approach
Animators from partner organizations encourage poor farmers in the villages to organize into groups. The group's 10–20 members elect three leaders (chairperson, treasurer, and secretary) and establish their own regulations, which include the frequency and amount of food or money they contribute to a shared fund. The savings allow members to assist one another in the event of emergencies, such as food shortages, accidents, or illness, or when all of their children require school supplies simultaneously. Additionally, the members of the group provide mutual assistance in the planting of rice, manioc, or vegetables or in heavy field work. They enhance their food security and increase their food production through this collaboration. Most members of the savings groups are debt-free after two to three years.
Impact
65,416 members (61,099 in 2023) of solidarity groups in the project area will be debt-free by the end of 2024 as a result of the savings groups, of which 53% are women
13,701 or 60% of households in the project area will have adopted agroecological farming methods by the end of 2024 (resulting in less fertiliser, better soil quality, healthier nutrition)
The solidarity group approach is producing remarkable results, particularly among the extremely poor
Story
A better life thanks to solidarity group
Jean Marie Rakotondrahasy is very grateful – not least to Rafaly Ratsoahelilala. Since 2015, she has been head of the NGO TSANTA (short for Tsinjo Ainja Antananarivo; Tsinjo Ainja means «secur-ing life»), a partner organization of Fastenaktion.
«Madame Lala taught us the basics of agro-ecological farming and thus paved the way for a better future», says Rakotondrahasy, now 42. «Our grandparents' land, which had previously been lying fallow, became fertile soil on which we grow rice and a variety of vegetables, such as sweet potatoes.»
The project supported by Fastenaktion currently reaches around 10,000 people in the regions of Antsirabe II, Analamanga, Vakinakaratra and Itasy, more than half of whom are women. «And our efforts go beyond simply fighting debt», emphasizes Rafaly Ratsoahelilala. «We want to create entire solidarity networks.” The impact of the project work is noticeable in many villages. One rural community has even managed to free itself from debt completely. «Seeing this transformation is incredibly satisfying.”
Jean Marie Rakotondrahasy's family has also experienced such a transformation. His eldest son, Tanjona (22), now works for a company that manufactures pasta while the other children go to school. Meanwhile, their parents are planning to increase their agricultural production and intend to use the money to buy a house as well as a zebu cow, which is a symbol of prosperity in the region.
«The project has changed our lives», says Rakotondrahasy, who now looks to the future with optimism. «We are determined to overcome all challenges and create a better future for the future generations.»
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