Madagascar Sets Up an Agricultural Program to Safeguard Food Security

Severely afflicted by hurricanes that ruined 80% of its recent crop, the island of Madagascar is facing a shortage that worldwide high food prices cannot solve. For Marco Falcone, FAO coordinator for Madagascar’s emergency management, “to import rice at today’s world prices translates into payments that are 70% higher than current local prices, a situation that might continue.” Consequently, Madagascan authorities have outlined two agricultural programs to safeguard food security in the short- and the long-term.

For the short term, the goal is to increase rice production with a sowing campaign that ended in August. Developed in cooperation with the FAO, this emergency plan should guarantee local sustenance production to meet this year’s needs.

However, the FAO points out that “rice production increase would not be enough to solve the country’s chronic poverty and malnutrition”. Indeed, Madagascar suffers from a dependence on rice that, because of its limited amount of nutrients and proteins, leads to undernourishment conditions.

In addition to this emergency policy, Madagascar initiated a long-term program that aims to re-introduce sorghum production in the island’s southern region. This traditional farming, which can withstand the severe droughts that plague the region, had been abandoned in the mid 90’s when starvation forced farmers to eat up crops and seeds to survive.

Madagascar’s example gives evidence to the necessity to associate trade issues to matters related to food security… a fact that WTO tends to forget.