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QUICK LINKS
:: Ivoloina's Conservation Training Center
Recommended Reading
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The Close Link Between Ecoagriculture and Conservation
The MFG partnered with Dr. Christof den Biggelaar of the Goodnight Family Sustainable Development Program at Appalachian State University to initiate a more comprehensive and ecologically oriented approach to improving farming practices in the Tamatave region. Malagasy farmers are well aware of the degrading effects of tavy (slash and burn agriculture), a practice that exposes fragile soils to erosion and loss of productivity but often feel powerless to redress the situation in their struggle for survival. As more and more forests are reduced to isolated habitat islands in a matrix of agricultural land it is clear that more intensive agricultural systems are required. To reduce pressure on remaining natural forests, Christof's goal was to introduce more sustainable farming techniques that improve soil fertility, minimize erosion and increase farm incomes without placing greater demands on available labor.
In January 2007, Dr. Christof den Biggelaar took a six month sabbatical that was, in large part, aimed at building local capacity through both formal programs at the university and non-formal education initiatives with local farmers.
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Rethinking how we produce food:
the new field of ecoagriculture
In their two books*, Jeffrey McNeely and Sara Scherr, present an alternative approach designed to integrate the seemingly disparate goals of conserving biodiversity and increasing human food production. They define ecoagriculture as "integrated conservation-agriculture landscapes where biodiversity conservation is an explicit objective of agriculture and rural development and the latter are explicitly considered in shaping conservation strategies" (Scherr & McNeely, 2007). They convincingly argue that trying to conserve biodiversity in protected reserves can never be the only solution and that a broad landscape approach which integrates opportunities for wild species to exist alongside agriculture and vice versa is required. |
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Dr
den Biggelaar's approach is both collaborative
and respectful. At the onset of his work he met with local
villagers to better understand
their farming practices which, as he likes to
point out, evolved from the community's
collective knowledge acquired over generations.
This type of participatory process addresses problems by
experimentally modify aspects of existing
practices as opposed to retrofitting
technologies developed in other countries.
A major problem, the low nutrient status of Malagasy soils, was confirmed by analyzing 141 soil samples from land farmed around the Ivoloina and Betampona areas. Because improving soil fertility is an essential first step and composting is one of the easiest and best methods to restore organic matter and nutrient levels, Dr. den Biggelaar and the MFG team used readily available biomass (leaves, grasses, crop and kitchen wastes, manure) to test different compost combinations and production techniques. Information on the compost mixtures identified as best able to meet local nutrient deficiencies are shared with farmers during site visits, at Parc Ivoloina and in training workshops where compost theory and practice is a regular topic.
While observing local farmers planting Christof
came to realize that the quality and
production of tree seedlings could be improved
by such measures as root pruning, using elevated
and ventilated seedling tables, fertilizing
seedlings with compost teas and identifying
appropriate pretreatment
People are wary of change and even when it purports to improve upon the status quo , is often slow to take hold. Thus when Dr. den Biggelaar returned to Tamatave in July 2008, he was pleased to find that several farmers from the neighboring village were still building compost piles and using the product, there were some tentative examples of farmers applying agroforestry concepts by planting a mixture of trees and crops as well as a few farmers growing organic vegetables for their own use and for market. Two farmers who volunteered their fields for a demonstration of nitrogen fixing trees had planted them along the contour of their terraced plots. These examples are positive signs that farmers are picking up and trying out new ideas. The ultimate goal is that those farmers who are successful will inspire others to adopt the new practices as well because experience has shown this is the best path to affect change. |
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methods to boost
germination rates of seeds. Training in
these techniques were also incorporated
into the workshop program and demonstrated at
Parc Ivoloina's demonstration nurseries.