Rice - The Life Blood of Madgascar

08/30/08 03:58 PM
Rice is life in Madagascar. It is the staple food with which most of the island lives on... breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Rice is grown all over the island by small scale subsistence farmers. These small farms are quite suseptible to the extremes of weather from long standing droughts in the South to multiple cyclones (hurricanes) that hit the island each year. In the 2006 -2007 season there were 6 full scale hurricanes. One of these not only displaces hundreds of thousands of people but decimates the crops. Even without hurricanes, Madagascar has to import more than 200,000 tons of rice each year.

Rice Distribution

Jonathan in 2000 distributing rice in Southern Madagascar

Importing rice costs 70% more than the locally produced rice. The government of Madagascar is currently working with NGOs and other governmental organizations to increase productivity with improved farming methods and better transportation to get the rice to market.

Yet more rice will not solve the problem of malnutrition in Madagascar. Although rice does provide some calories it is devoid of many essential vitamins, minerals, and protein. Work is being done to improve the crop profile. For example sorghum, which disappeared during droughts in the 1990s, has been reintroduced. Compared to rice, this grain has a higher nutrient content and can survive through hotter, dryer weather. Much work is needed in the agricultural and economic infrastructure before the Malagasy people are free from malnutrition.
(Info adapted from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations)