PROJECT FOCUS AREAS
1. Boosting Knowledge of Animal Husbandry Best Practices
The project is training lead farmers on animal husbandry, animal health, and marketing to improve livestock health and quality for sale in markets. These lead farmers made a commitment to train other farmers in their communities to share their knowledge.
2. Improving Access to Livestock Health Services
With the ministry, the project trained and certified community animal production and health agents to provide technical advice animal health services, and inputs to farmers that would otherwise have to wait for an extended period for a veterinarian. Maharo is the first project to establish this type of animal health extension service in Madagascar.
3. Including Women in Livestock Production
The project used a digital assessment tool called the Gendered Feed Assessment Tool (G-FEAST) to determine feed resources, developing location-specific feed strategies and improve animal feeding. The G-FEAST focuses on how women and men face different constraints when feeding their livestock.
COUNTRY CONTEXT
Madagascar
Maharo is being implemented in the Androy and Atsimo Andrefana regions of southern Madagascar. This part of the island nation is semi-arid and has experienced severe drought the last several years. This has led to severe food security concerns in both regions.