In Madagascar today, the stakes for agricultural transformation could not be higher.
Agriculture is the primary livelihood for most Malagasy households, employing about 78% of the workforce, with roughly 80% of the population relying on agriculture (FAO/World Bank data).
Climate shocks—cyclones, droughts, and increasingly erratic rainfall—regularly disrupt planting seasons and destroy harvests. In many communities, the agricultural calendar that farmers once relied upon has become increasingly unpredictable.
Food insecurity and malnutrition are widespread in Madagascar, with a large share of households experiencing periodic food shortages, particularly in rural areas dependent on rainfed agriculture (WFP, World Bank). Nutrition security is a challenge with high rates of stunting and micronutrient deficiencies persisting despite the country’s agricultural potential. Extreme rates of malnutrition drain human capital development. The economic cost of malnutrition is estimated at up to 10–14 percent of GDP, driven by lost productivity and higher health costs (World Bank 2020).[1]
Madagascar’s situation is not unique. Across much of the developing world, food systems face the same convergence of pressures: climate change, environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, demographic growth, especially in urban and peri-urban areas, and fragile rural economies.
But Madagascar offers something more than a stark reminder of these challenges.
It is emerging as an important testing ground for a new model of agricultural innovation—one that connects science, policy, capacity strengthening, and prioritizing agricultural investment in ways that are more integrated, collaborative, and responsive to real-world complexity.
Madagascar can be model of how international and national research systems and development finance institutions can work together to translate innovation into large-scale agricultural transformation.
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