Community power: proving sustainable development works in Madagascar

Money for Madagascar and Malagasy people have shown sustainable development can build a better future for Madagascar, in a project which has empowered communities to protect their environment while improving their incomes and living standards.

Our Empowering Communities for Conservation and Livelihoods in Madagascar initiative (ECCLiM), supported by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) has successfully assisted thousands of Malagasy people to improve their incomes, and their control over them, while protecting and promoting the unique, vital, environment in which they live.

From July 2023 to December 2024, our project worked with communities in three Malagasy Key Biodiversity Areas: the ‘Bank of (the river) Onilahy‘, the ‘Lake Ihotry-Mangoky Delta Complex‘, both in the South-West, and Tsinjoarivo, in Madagascar’s Highlands.

Key Biodiversity Areas are locations which contain any or all of: biodiversity under threat, biodiversity which is restricted geographically, of special ecological integrity, unusual biological processes, or the irreplaceability of its flora and fauna.

All three are host to wildlife and plants under threat, many of which are unique to their region, including Onilahy’s spiny forest, in which 53 per cent of plant species and eight full genera are endemic, as are many lemurs, tortoises and birds.

The Lake Ihotry-Mangoky Delta Complex hosts a baobab forest and several endemic plant and wildlife species, particularly water birds, while the Tsinjaorivo area contains at least 11 species of primate, 17 species of tenrec (the highest diversity in Madagascar of a family unique to the island), seven species of rodent, five of them endemic, six carnivores, four of which are endemic, and at least 247 plant species.

Not only is it all of our responsibility to protect these environmental wonders, it is also to the benefit of everyone on the planet: the Malagasy and other rainforests are an absolutely central part of our efforts and hopes to limit the negative impacts of climate change.

But the Malagasy people charged by an accident of birth with safeguarding this unique and vital ecological resource, also face serious challenges. Some 79.7 per cent of Malagasy people live on or below the global poverty baseline of £1.73 per day.

Agriculture accounts for 25 per cent of Malagasy GDP, employs 80 per cent of Malagasy people, and makes up 80 per cent of the country’s assets: it is easy to understand that removing parts of the rainforests to clear extra and fertile soil to be farmed is a genuine temptation for many Malagasy people.

At Money for Madagascar, we know that development, the improvement of livelihoods, and living standards, improving education, health, diet, access to clean water, shelter and clothing, do not have to, and must not, contradict and conflict with protecting and promoting the natural environment.

In common with most of our programmes, the ECCLiM initiative married our knowledge that development and the environment can progress together, and that Malagasy people know best what they need to improve their living standards, and how to do so.

With financial help from CEPF, we created a pool of cash for Malagasy people, including women, vulnerable minority groups and young people, to set up and operate projects which protect the unique and vital Malagasy rainforest, while increasing incomes and becoming more resilient to climate change.

We helped Malagasy communities create and operate 19 VOIs Communautés Locales de Base/Grassroots Local Communities (COBAs), each of which had around 350 members, and were divided into 93 Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) or Community Savings Groups (GECs).

These community-based organisations, among other services, provided loans and grants to enable people to improve their farming techniques, train in new skills and purchase equipment and seeds.

They ensured all members heard applications for and made decisions on loans for proposed activities, and provided support and financial advice to all members as they developed and enacted their projects, helping them structure them, and consider extra elements which assisted their success.

Our work enabled and supported Malagasy people to run their own forestry activities, including agroforestry, improve agricultural production and sustainability, restore degraded habitats including soil damaged and lost because of climate change-driven unusual weather events, and train young leaders to deliver forestry-related support services.

The initiative demonstrated a powerful model which others can follow, integrating community empowerment, economic resilience, and environmental sustainability, and delivered:

• Youth Leadership in Development – we trained 75 young leaders, 42 of them women, to provide agroecological guidance, improving local governance and livelihoods

• Community Savings for Stability – 93 savings groups, with 2,488 members, 60 per cent of them women, strengthened financial resilience and conservation funding

• Sustainable Farming for Climate Resilience – 77 per cent of participating households at least tripled their crop yields, boosted income by 47 per cent, and reduced farming costs by two-thirds

• Stronger Local Governance – improved decision-making, communication, and participation within COBA/VOI groups, has resulted in better natural resource management

• Conservation in Action – increased community engagement and financial stability has resulted in reforestation and improved forest protection patrols

Christiane Randrianarisoa, Money for Madagascar’s Programme Manager and Network and Resource Mobiliser for the Resilient Forests and Livelihoods programme, said:

‘This project has highlighted the power of local ownership, demonstrating that when communities, especially young people, take the lead, change is effective and lasting.

‘Linking economic incentives with conservation helps motivate communities to protect their environment. While logistical challenges in remote areas required adaptive approaches, the project’s success offers a replicable model for other regions.

‘It has helped create stronger communities, thriving ecosystems, and shows how Malagasy people can achieve true sustainable development.’