Eager to assess the impact of the training and support system for the professional integration of young malagasy farmers, in 2018 Fert and its Fifata Group partners in Madagascar sought support from Ifocap to realise a study of the economics of training-professional integration for young farmers.

This work was coordinated by Jean-Jacques Loussouarn remobilized in 2022
for a new edition of the study.

“Over the course of 2018-2019, Fert and the Fifata group have, with the support of Ifocap, set up tools to analyze the costs and effectiveness of agricultural advisory and training services for young people.

Over and above the results, this has provided an initial dashboard with benchmarks and indicators on the economic model (costs/income generation), indications on the economic results of the young people involved, their practices and their contributions to the development of their region: professional commitment, service provision.

Once this investment (tools and methodology) had been made, based on the rigorous conduct of the study process, it proved appropriate to make it permanent in order to measure developments and also to equip ourselves with a permanent dashboard enabling not only fine steering of the system, but also sharing of these results with the partners involved alongside Fert and Fifata in the training-integration program implemented by Fekama, a federation of 5 agricultural colleges that is a member of the Fifata group, and, more broadly, in agricultural development.

An update of the 2018-2019 study was carried out in 2022. From this work on 433 young farmers’ farms, we can retain a few major trends:

  • The economic results of young farmers are improving (+38% average gross margin in the 6th year after leaving agricultural college).
  • A sharp increase (+31%) in the cost of training and integration, due mainly to 3 factors: high inflation, an increase in structural costs linked to the evolution of teachers’ careers, and a higher cost of installation aids due to a higher number of installations.
  • Finally, it should be pointed out that with 1,061 young people installed (in 2022), the overall wealth created is greater than the cost of the scheme of 1.673 Mds Ar (€390,000).

“It’s during the 6th year of young farmers’ installation that the cumulative wealth produced (cumulative gross margins) becomes greater than the total cost of their training (3 years in agricultural college + internships) and support in their professional integration (2 years after leaving college)”.

It should also be remembered that the sustainability of this approach to the regular production of results indicators was made possible by the gradual appropriation of the method and associated tools by the members of Fekama’s technical team. Both approaches took the form of a learning study based on the team’s practical application of the tools and processes. The transfer of skills took the form of Ifocap-assisted learning. This enabled the team to take ownership of the tools, which is essential to the long-term success of the approach.”

Jean-Jacques Loussouarn

September 14, 2023