Check out the latest post from our resident blogger Ailie Judd, the winner of the Vodafone: World of Difference competition. For this blog she asked her friend Samm Short to explain impact of the environment on local communities in Madagascar.

3 weeks until I depart, I have had my jabs, got my visa and have had a huge pile of generously donated toys that I have no idea how I am going to fit in my luggage under the weight limit. This week I have asked my close friend and respected colleague Samm Short, to write about the depletion of resources in Madagascar and the impact this has on local communities. Samm is Head of Project Development for Azafady and is based in Fort Dauphin. Samm has the huge responsibility of generating funds for all of Azafady’s projects and is heavily involved in the monitoring, evaluation and reporting to donors. Samm has played a key part in the development of my HIV prevention programme, from initial proposal writing, to programme design and financial budget plans.

Photo:  Ed Kashi www.edkashi.com

“A huge part of my job requires questions that can’t be answered without an understanding of the wonderful array of ancient beliefs and practices that together form what is known as ‘culture’. And in Madagascar, culture is everything. One of the hardest elements of local culture to work with is the problems that arise from an overwhelming and crippling lack of choice. In the rural communities we work with, survival is a day-to-day affair, and choice (such as it is) is based around decisions that maximise the chances of that survival.

One example of this is the illegal, yet widespread practice of tavy, or slash and burn agriculture. Tavy is the dominant mode of agricultural practice in the southeast and involves clearing large amounts of land through, quite literally, slashing and burning it. The soil is fertile for just 1 year, after which farmers are forced to move on to the next patch of forest to start the cycle again. The land is left without vegetation and top soil swept away by winds and rains, leaving Madagascar ever more vulnerable to the extremes of floods, drought, and desertification. Not only this, but the forests are fast running out – over 90% of original forest has already been lost – and those that remain are increasingly being restricted from use under the country’s Protected Areas System, with potential fines including imprisonment.

Fertile land is a tenuous resource in Madagascar; and the ocean is rapidly becoming so too. Over 70% of families in the southeast are dependent on either subsistence agriculture or fishing for their survival, and with over 90% of the local population living below the poverty line, the concept of sustainability doesn’t exist simply because it is not relevant – there is no assumption you will live to see the effects of your immediate actions. With less fertile land, more people turn to fishing, placing an increasing pressure on yet another fragile resource. In a classic example of the cycle of poverty and resource depletion, this photo shows a young girl scraping eggs from a pregnant lobster which will be sold to feed her and her family. Without their mother the eggs will never hatch, but the girl’s family will be fed for another day.

So when Azafady is developing a project that aims to eliminate the practice of tavy or illegal fishing, we are always thinking about choice: choice to farm in sustainable way, choice to contribute to conservation, choice to plan a future for a family. And from this comes the ethos that Azafady holds onto so tightly – perceiving each of our projects as integrated into a whole, which simultaneously addresses our four core areas; health, education, sustainable livelihoods, and conservation.”

Azafady: Poverty In Madagascar

Azafady: A Background To Madagascar

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Azafady website