Two major development organizations have teamed up to help Madagascar’s farmers deal with climate change and grow more food. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Green Climate Fund are putting $150.8 million into a six-year program that will directly help nearly 500,000 small farmers and support over 3.5 million people in rural areas.
The program, called DEFIS+, will work in six regions across southern and central Madagascar. It aims to teach farmers better ways to grow crops that can survive droughts and unpredictable weather, while also helping them get their produce to markets where they can earn more money.
Madagascar depends heavily on farming—nearly 60% of people live in rural areas and agriculture makes up 23% of the country’s economy. But farmers face serious problems from climate change, including long dry spells and erratic rainfall that destroy crops and threaten families’ food security.
Sara Mbago-Bhunu from IFAD said the program will give farmers new tools and training to better handle these climate challenges. “This transformative additional financing will empower the programme to expand its interventions, address smallholders’ challenges holistically,” she said.
IFAD has been working in Madagascar since 1979, funding 18 rural development projects that have helped more than 635,000 families. This new program builds on that experience, using climate-smart farming methods to make agricultural systems stronger and help communities prepare for future weather challenges.
