A huge potential for agriculture

My name is Enrico Palchetti and I am an agronomist. Currently on sabbatical from my work as a professor in tropical agriculture at the University of Florence, I manage JTF, the Malagasy subsidiary of Tozzi Green. It is one of the most interesting jobs I have had in my career.

Madagascar has a huge potential from many points of view, agriculture being one of them. Biotechnology, mechanisation, and the use of new fertilisers and plant varieties could help enlarge and enhance food production. Take rice, for example. People here are growing a very old variety, without the use of fertilisers or mechanisation, leading to low productivity.

JTF - the Malagasy subsidiary of Tozzi Green - is one of the few companies in the country that practices mechanised and technical agriculture. That is why the Ministry of Agriculture is asking for our support in strengthening the country’s food safety.

One of the problems is the lack of seed varieties suitable for southern Madagascar. Seeds need to be imported, which is expensive, time-consuming, and complicated. So, we are trying to help by using our skills and machinery to produce seeds on our farm that can be used by smallholders in the South, for instance, maize, sorghum, millet, and cassava.

Another problem is logistics. There are simply not enough internal transportation possibilities, like roads or bridges. Importing or exporting goods is very complicated, which has only been exacerbated by the recent global shipping crisis. The cost of importing food in this famine-struck country has almost doubled, which will probably lead to further trouble.

Climate

Over the last two years, rainfall in the south of Madagascar has diminished. For subsistence agriculture, without mechanisation or irrigation systems, one hundred millimetres less rain per year can be the difference between survival and famine. While droughts are bad enough for the environment, the increased difficulties for the farmers add to the problem, as many people from the south have been moving to the north, trying to find better plots to cultivate, practising slash and burn agriculture in - formerly - rich forest areas.

Climate change is affecting agricultural productivity in Madagascar, requiring different strategies, such as growing drought-resistant alternatives. The best candidate to replace maize, for example, is sorghum bicolor, also known as great millet. It is very similar to maize and well accepted in the country, but with much-reduced water demand.

By adapting our major crops, we can strike a balance between the economic and environmental sustainability of the farm. Malagasy people are strong workers and have faith in their country, there is an inner resilience in the population. All they need is infrastructure, impact investors, and a supportive political class.