Increasing agricultural productivity

The agriculture and livestock sectors in Madagascar face significant challenges due to a lack of equipment and the high cost of inputs. Financial constraints prevent farmers and producers from automating their production processes.

There is still much work to be done to modernize agriculture on the Great Island. Agricultural producers and livestock farmers, in particular, struggle with the challenge of automating their tasks. The lack of training in agricultural techniques exacerbates this issue, further hindering the sector’s evolution. Many farmers cannot afford modern machinery, even though they wish to. The prices, ranging from one to three million ariary (around 700 USD) for a small pump, are unaffordable, especially given the high cost of inputs.

A farmer from Mahitsy remarked, « Mechanizing our activities could lead to an increase in our production in the long term ». In Antananarivo, basic farming methods like the hoe and ox-drawn plow are still suitable only for subsistence agriculture. The Chamber of Agriculture of Madagascar also shares this observation. The main challenges lie in the availability of equipment, the adoption of modern agricultural methods, and supporting farmers in accessing markets.

According to the latest figures, 33 % of agricultural operations in Madagascar use ox-drawn plows, and 28.8 % use ox-drawn harrows.