Since December 2020, Fert and the Fifata group (Fifata, Ceffel, Cap Malagasy) are implementing a new action with farmers in the vegetable, fruit and poultry sectors in the Itasy and Analamanga regions of Madagascar. In mid-March, an exchange was organized with other producers supported by Fifata and Fert in order to “speak the same language”.
At the end of 2020, Fert and the Fifata group (Fifata, Ceffel, Cap Malagasy) started a new action, “Ambioka”, in 50 communes of the Analamanga and Itasy regions within the framework of the AFAFI-Centre* program, financed by the European Union and the Malagasy State. This action aims to support the professionalization of the vegetable, fruit and poultry farming value chains in the regions on the outskirts of the capital Antananarivo.
On March 18 and 19, 2021, Fert and the Fifata Group brought together farmers to understand the problems they face and to establish a dialogue. Other farmers supported by Fert and Fifata were invited to share their experience.
The exchange between farmers is an important prerequisite to “speak the same language” and start this 4-year action of developing services and structuring on a good basis.
Exchanges between farmer leaders to “speak the same language”
In order to facilitate exchanges with farmers, farmer leaders from farmers’ organizations in the commune of Mahereza were invited to share their vision of the development of local services and the organization of farmers.
The Mahereza farmers’ unions have been supported by Fert and the Fifata group since 2015. With the support of an agricultural advisor, these farmers have developed two unions to mutualize their services (input stores, vegetable collection point and arrangements with a collector, purchases of feed and vaccines for chickens, etc.).
Their testimony generated a lot of interest from the farmers. The Mahereza farmers were able to answer their many questions about the functioning of an organization or the economic viability of a service.
These questions highlight the concerns of the farmers involved in this new action in this start-up phase.
Like the farmers of Mahereza, they consider themselves to be good producers and feel that they have already benefited from a lot of training. However, they emphasize the interest of a local support to help them to progress technically and economically in their farm management. They question the interest of being organized in a group to meet their needs, but see in these testimonies both a great asset and a challenge…
*The “Ambioka” project, implemented by Fert, in partnership with the associations Fifata, Ceffel and Cap Malagasy, is a part of the AFAFI Centre program (Programme d’Appui au Financement de l’Agriculture et aux Filières Inclusives dans le Centre de Madagascar), funded by the European Union.
