Surviving the Storm
As climate change devastates the region of southeast Madagascar, communities learn to fight back
To live in the southeast region of Madagascar, just off the Indian Ocean, is to be exposed to the brunt of every cyclone that blows onshore. Claude and his community have endured every manifestation of the volatile weather, from heavy winds buffeting the house to catastrophic storms that destroy the house altogether, and everything inside.
“We are the first victims of cyclones, and bad weather in general,” Claude said. “And with climate change, the storms are getting worse and worse every year. The worst impact is on our agriculture. It destroys all our crops and ruins everything.”
Back when he was a daily laborer on other people’s farms, Claude lived by the vagaries of the weather. During the cyclone season, entire fields would be washed away, reducing his work and income. Then, when the season of drought descended on the community, he had no food or savings to supplement the period of scarcity. Every year, he and his family—a wife and two young children—barely survived.
This was the life Claude had always known. He never imagined it would change.
“I had to drop out of school to help my parents because there was a lot of work to do and not enough money,” he said. “That is when I began working as a laborer and helping my parents around the house. When I was young, I never thought about owning my own plantation one day.”
When FIOVANA came to his community, Claude was excited by the opportunity to learn improved farming techniques with better tools.
Alongside 14 members of his village, he joined the local Farmer Field School, accepted the training, tools and seeds, and began developing his own field for the first time in his life. Success followed soon after.
“In the past I had no techniques, I would just find a space, clear it out, and plant the cassava,” he said. “It took ten plants to accomplish what I get with one plant now.”
He attributes much of his success to the “basket method” of planting cassava taught by FIOVANA, which instructs uniformity in the size, depth and distance of each hole, followed by layers of compost, manure, and soil. The contrast in technique is profound.
“I just sold two metric tons of cassava,” Claude said, proud of the $400 USD sum that is bigger than any paycheck he has ever earned. “Before FIOVANA, I didn’t really invest in agriculture, I was a daily laborer for other people’s farms. When I worked for others, it felt like I gave them all the benefit. Now that I have my own farm, the benefits come to me.”
One result of the new benefits is a future for his family that he never thought possible. That includes a school education for his young children that he never got.
“I really hope my children can go much farther than I did,” he said. “All the way to the university. Once they get to the university, they can choose what comes next, but I want them to get there.”
His wife, Fleurette, shares his dreams.
“I hope they can grow up and find better work and education than us,” she said. More than just his dreams, she also shares his skills and passion for farming. While Claude is working in the cassava field with his FFS community, Fleurette is tending the family vegetable garden. What they don’t eat, she sells at the market to supplement their growing income.
“Claude taught me the techniques he learned from FFS,” she said. “I really like the work. It pleases me.”
Claude is proud to share the knowledge. Indeed, passing along the positive changes is a core value of the FIOVANA project.
“With FFS, we can learn together and share techniques,” Claude said.
“I don’t want to farm alone, because we have a bigger impact together. When we work together, we all get benefits together.”
“Before FIOVANA, March, April, and May were very hard for us,” he added, referring to the brutal season of drought. “We didn’t have money and the prices for everything during that time are high. Now it is changing.
