Regenerating Rainforests in Madagascar

Health in Harmony keeps investing in community designed and systems-oriented solutions.

In southeastern Madagascar’s Manombo Rainforest, these solutions address climate-related issues, like altered rainfall patterns and declining soil fertility, that give local communities no choice but to encroach into Manombo Rainforest with swidden fields at an unsustainable rate. However, communities living in the vicinity of Manombo Rainforest acknowledge the necessity to live in better balance with the rainforest for their well-being and that of the forest. During Radical Listening, Communities asked Health In Harmony for support shifting away from swidden agriculture, and, following their guidance, we began offering regular training in regenerative farming that not only improves land use practices but also minimizes deforestation.

In line with the community-designed regenerative agriculture program, HIH Madagascar has now partnered with the Madagascar Biodiversity Center to test cricket-based nutrition and cricket frass fertilizer within Manombo Rainforest communities. This opportunity offers a cheap and climate-responsive way to increase crop yields, and resilience to mounting climate shocks. 

Local communities are leading every aspect of this project: from management of cricket farms, testing and choosing acceptable cricket powder-based nutritional supplements, to leading trials on cricket frass fertilizer in reforestation, agroforestry and agriculture experimental plots.

Your continuous support to HIH Madagascar will allow Manombo Rainforest communities to replicate self-sustaining cricket farms across all 31 village communities and develop efficient cricket-based products.