African Development Bank supports protection of the environment in Madagascar

In 2017, according to its High 5 objectives, including those of feeding Africa and improving the quality of life of the people of Africa, the African Development Bank launched the second phase of the project to restore and extend the Bas Mangoky irrigation zone.

While the first phase, completed in 2015, contributed to the restoration of the water intake, the aims of the current phase include the development of water resource infrastructure, the development of irrigated plots, and the use of improved seed over a bigger cultivable area. The Bank’s objective is to make the south-west of Madagascar the “Big Island’s” rice bowl with, crucially, additional annual production of 44,000 tonnes of rough rice and 2,400 tonnes of lima beans.

Funded by the Bank in partnership with the Malagasy State, the project will cost a total of $61.7 million, and involves some 9000 hectares in this region rich in animals and endemic plants.

Daniel Ralieno, chair of the “Asity Madagascar” association in Morombe, calls for a better understanding of the biodiversity of Madagascar and its conservation in its natural ecosystem, as well as its valorisation.

Original source: AfDB
Published on 05 February 2019