Agriculture employs the majority of Madagascar's population. Mainly involving smallholders, agriculture has seen different levels of state organisation, shifting from state control to a liberalized sector.
Rice is the main produce and main export crop of Madagascar. It is mainly planted in a terraced paddy system in the central highlands. Other major subsistence crops include cassava, corn, and sweet potato, while coffee, cloves, vanilla and other cash crops are exported.
Among livestock, zebu account for most of the cattle, while pigs, sheep and poultry are also raised. Fishing is popular, and aquaculture has grown in importance.
Madagascar has seen high rates of deforestation, and the illegal extraction of highly valued timber species such as mahogany, ebony, and rosewood threatens native stands. The traditional slash-and-burn agriculture (tavy) together with population growth put increasing pressure on the native and very diverse flora of Madagascar.
Production Madagascar produced, in 2018:
4 million tons of rice; 3.1 million tons of sugarcane; 2.5 million tons of cassava; 1 million tons of sweet potato; 388 thousand tons of vegetable; 383 thousand tons of banana; 300 thousand tons of mango (including mangosteen and guava); 257 thousand tons of potato; 230 thousand tons of taro; 215 thousand tons of maize; 93 thousand tons of pineapple; 86 thousand tons of beans; 83 thousand tons of orange; 73 thousand tons of coconut;
In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products, like coffee (57 thousand tons), clove (23 thousand tons), cocoa (11 thousand tons), cashew (7 thousand tons) and vanilla (3 thousand tons).Madagascar production in 2018, by FAO
Seasons and geography
Agriculture in Madagascar is heavily influenced by the island's rainfall, which is generally abundant on the whole East coast, decreases sharply on the highlands, and falls to less than 500 mm per year in the South and South-West. The main growing season starts with the first rains in October – November. The cropping calendar greatly varies from region to region, according to the very different climatic conditions, soils and altitude.Ministry of Agriculture of Madagascar website. http://www.agriculture.gov.mg/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=160&lang=fr
Farming statistics
There are 2,4 million farmsFAO. The state of food and agriculture 2010–11 Annex 3, Table A5. http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/i2050e/i2050e08.pdf of which the large majority are smallholders. This sector is characterized by farms not exceeding 1,3 hectares on average, fragmented (which hampers mechanization), with a large variety of crops, extensive practices, traditional varieties, limited equipment and infrastructures and poor water control, producing barely enough to feed their families.
Agricultural production is not constrained by lack of cultivable land. In fact, out of the 41 million hectares of agricultural land, only 3.5 million hectares are cultivated annually. The remainder of the area is under pastures (37.3 million ha)FAO. Statistical Yearbook 2010, Resources Table 4 Land Use. http://www.fao.org/economic/ess/ess-publications/ess-yearbook/ess-yearbook2010/yearbook2010-reources/en/ and forest (13 million ha).Evaluation des ressources forestières mondiales 2010. Rapport national Madagascar, Rome 2010. http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/al556F/al556F.pdf Irrigation would be possible over 1.5 million hectares of which about 1.1 million are somehow irrigated, with wide areas needing rehabilitation and investmentsFAO Aquastat. http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/countries_regions/madagascar/indexfra.stm
Food crop production is the most important agriculture sub-sector accounting for around 75 percent of the cultivated area (2009).FAO. Statistical Yearbook 2010, Agricultural Production Tables 1 to 9. http://www.fao.org/economic/ess/ess-publications/ess-yearbook/ess-yearbook2010/yearbook2010/en/ Rice is the staple food, covering 1.34 million hectares throughout the country – with the exception of some semi-arid areas in the South and in the South-West – under both rain-fed and irrigated systems. Other food crops include maize (mainly grown in the South and Central-East regions), cassava, sorghum (in the South), beans, groundnut, sweet potatoes and a wide variety of vegetables. Cassava is an important component of the smallholder's risk reduction strategy because it is drought tolerant and resistant to disease. Cassava, sweet potato and maize are the main source of calories in the lean season (from September to January). Groundnut is cultivated on sandy soils in most locations and makes an important contribution to household diet and income. The main cash crops are cotton, vanilla, coffee, litchi, pepper, tobacco, groundnut, sugar cane, sisal, clove and ylang-ylang.
In general, levels of production and revenue of smallholders remain low due to a combination of multiple negative factors including land tenure insecurity, weak organisation of the agricultural filières, low intensity inputs use, no mechanization, and low soil productivity due to land degradation (especially erosion in the highlands).UNDP. Plan Cadre des Nations Unies pour l’Assistance au Développement UNDAF Madagascar 2008–2011, Juin 2007. http://www.snu.mg/new/sites/pnud/article.php?article_id=748&lang=fr Nevertheless, rice production has increased from 2.4 million tons in 1990 to 4.0 million tons in 2009 thanks to the increase of both cultivated area (15 percent) and yields (40 percent).
Shifting cultivation
Traditional farming methods vary from one ethnic group or location to another, according to population density, climate, water supply. The most intensive form of cultivation is practiced among the Betsileo and Merina groups of the central highlands, where population densities are the highest. At the other extreme are the extensive slash-and-burn methods of brush clearing and shifting cultivation in the south and the east.
In the forested areas of the eastern coast, the Betsimisaraka and Tanala peoples also practice irrigated rice culture where possible. The dominant form of land use, however, is shifting cultivation by the slash-and-burn method, known as tavy. The smaller trees and brush are cut down and left to dry, then burned just before the rainy season. The cleared area is usually planted with mountain rice and corn. After two or three years of cultivation, the fields are usually left fallow and are gradually covered by secondary vegetation known as savoka. After ten or twenty years, the area may be cultivated again.
Because the slash-and-burn method destroys the forest and other vegetation cover, and promotes erosion, it has been declared illegal. Government assistance is offered to those cultivators who prepare rice paddies instead, and those practicing tavy are fined or, in extreme cases, imprisoned. Despite the penalties, and much to the chagrin of forestry agents, tavy continues to be practiced. Even those who cultivate wet paddies often practice tavy on the side. The crop cycle for tavy is shorter than for irrigated rice, and generations of experience have taught that it is one of the few forms of insurance against the droughts that occur about every three years. Moreover, the precipitous slopes and heavy, irregular rains make it difficult to maintain affordable and controllable irrigation systems.
A similar system of shifting cultivation is practiced in the arid, sparsely populated regions of the extreme south and southwest. The dry brush or grassland is burned off, and drought-resistant sorghum or corn is sown in the ashes. In the Antandroy and some Mahafaly areas, however, the main staples of subsistence--cassava, corn, beans, and sorghum—are also grown around the villages in permanent fields enclosed by hedges.
Dry-season cultivation in empty streambeds is practiced largely on the western coast and in the southwest and is called baiboho. The crops are sown after the last rising of the waters during the rainy seasons, and after the harvest fresh alluvial deposits naturally replenish the soil. Lima beans (also known as Cape peas) are raised by this system on the Mangoky River system delta, along with tobacco and a number of newer crops.
Types of produce
Rice The Betsileo are probably the most efficient traditional rice farmers. They construct rice paddies on narrow terraces ascending the sides of steep valleys in the southern portion of the central highlands, creating an intricate landscape reminiscent of Indonesia. The irrigation systems use all available water, which flows through narrow canals for considerable distances. Some rice paddies cover no more than a few square meters. Only those surfaces that cannot be irrigated are planted in dryland crops.
In parts of the central highlands two rice crops a year can be grown, but not on the same plot. The Betsileo use a variety of local species that can be sown at different times, employing irrigation to grow some varieties in the dry season and waiting for the rainy season to plant others. The fields surrounding the typical Betsileo village often represent a checkerboard of tiny plots in different stages of the crop cycle.
The cultivation cycle begins with the repair of irrigation and drainage canals and plowing, which is performed with a longhandled spade or hoe. Manure or fertilizer is then spread over the field. If the supply of manure or artificial fertilizer is limited, only the seedbeds are fertilized. After fertilizing, family and neighbors join in a festive trampling of the fields, using cattle if available. Occasionally, trampling takes the place of plowing altogether. If the rice is to be sown broadcast, it may be done on the same day as trampling. In the more advanced areas, the seedlings are raised in protected seedbeds and transplanted later.
Rice-farming techniques among the Merina resemble those of the Betsileo but are usually less advanced and intensive. The Merina territory includes some areas where land is more plentiful, and broader areas permit less laborious means of irrigation and terracing. Although rice is still the dominant crop, more dryland species are grown than in the Betsileo region, and greater use is made of the hillsides and grasslands.
Livestock and fishing
Livestock is widespread, with about 60 percent of rural families depending on it for their income. Animal production is dominated by extensive livestock rearing, pigs and poultry. There is also a growing modern poultry industry around the main cities. In 2008, livestock accounted for 9.7 million of head of cattle, 2 million sheep and goats, 1.4 million pigs, and 26 million poultry. Overall, meat production was estimated at 251,000 tons; milk, 530,000 tons; and hen eggs, 19,000 tons.FAO. Statistical Yearbook 2010, Resources Tables 9 and 19 and Agricultural Production Tables 10, 11 and 12. http://www.fao.org/economic/ess/ess-publications/ess-yearbook/ess-yearbook2010/yearbook2010/en/ Zebus are also used for agricultural work for puddling rice fields as well as for ploughing and pulling carts. The high prevalence of disease is the main constraint undermining an increase of production. For example, Newcastle disease is a major ubiquitous problem for poultry, Anthrax affects cattle, and Classical and African swine fever affect pigs.FAO Country Brief for Madagascar. http://www.fao.org/countries/55528/en/mdg/ Overall, the performances of this sub-sector are poor, with the exception of some filières (milk, small animals).