02 May 2007

Economic Opportunity Comes to Madagascar

Partnership for a Better Life

 

Joseph, of the Madagascar Agricultural Business Investment Project, has saved $500 and now sends his children to a private school.(MCC)

Ampasimazava is a village on Madagascar's east coast where, because of poor soil quality and poor agricultural infrastructure, few options had existed for generating revenue. The principal economic activities of villagers consisted of collecting firewood and making charcoal. The average weekly revenue for a charcoal producer was less than $5.

In 2006 the Madagascar Agricultural Business Investment Project, supported by Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) funding, began working with an association of Ampasimazava villagers to produce essential oil from niaouli leaves, commonly used in cosmetic and skin care products.

MCA-Madagascar helped the association develop a business plan, obtain $3,000 in financing from a local microfinance institution for a distilling plant and link the association to buyers in the capital city.

As a result of the villagers’ efforts and MCA-Madagascar’s assistance, the association and its members became successful almost overnight. Joseph, one member of the association, managed to save $500 within the first two months of production and began to envision his family’s future in a whole new way. He began constructing a larger, cyclone-resistant house and decided to send his children to a private school.

Within the first two months of operations the association generated more than $1,000 in profits from membership fees, which the members plan to use to make improvements in the village, including building wells to supply drinking water.

The association members have begun to pay off their loan and are in the process of creating a tree nursery to begin production of eucalyptus essential oil.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)