A dedicated micro credit fund for rural Madagascar

In addition to the festivities, the trip was used to raise awareness and discuss the many aspects, be it psychological, organizational or material preparations required, to successfully acquiring and using motorized machine(s) in agriculture. This is done with the intention to improve agricultural yields for ZAHANA project members in all four of our village sites.

Once again, thanks to everyone's efforts, the use of a tractor is in the cards for the first half of 2024, thanks to a donation of making it available from another organization. Zahana made is clear that we are happy to facilitate and assist, but we are not ready to take over the commitment to maintain, repair or buy fuel for the tractor.
 
The stakes are high for our villagers. They are unfamiliar with such mechanization, but this qualitative leap it offers could be a lifesaver for the challenge and obstacles some of them seem ready to tackle head on. This is one of the reasons why ZAHANA set up the famous LEADERS' COMMITTEE. This committee did in fact not emerge out of nowhere.  It is driven by the will and the determination of its members to improve their living conditions.
This lively meeting raised a lot of good questions:

• Why a tractor at all?
• A tractor for whom?
• Where would it be used?
• For what production method?
• For what crop?
• With what prior training can people borrow and use it?
• How to secure and maintain such an (expensive) asset?

In short: what risk, shortfalls and opportunities involved is such a new project?
 
Keeping in mind that the main requirement expressed by the donor is that is draws on the mutual aid system better known in Malagasy village society as "Valintanana" and "Miara-mirona". "Valin-tanana", in fact valiny = response and tanana = hand. So it's like when someone helps me for free to work in my rice paddy next time he could ask me to do the same for his own rice paddy or other work he needs done. This custom was very familiar in country side before. Unfortunately, now it's on its way to disappear that's why it's good to give it a new life. "Miara-mirona" = go toward the same goal.
 
The mechanization of agriculture is one of Zahana's development objectives for life in the countryside. Using traditional hand tools to work the land won't increase production, and it's time to find a new approach.
 
At the end of our mission, we were told that 14 hectares of land had already been made available for the Zahana members' joint farming project and 98 hectares for the villagers.  Plus, they had already agreed on at least one agricultural site, ideally more or less of equivalent size, for each village.
 
This is the beginning of a new chapter. A very exciting, innovative development. We will follow-up and monitor, plus assist where requested in its process at our future site visits.
 
Following this line of thought, Zahana plans to have its own shop or market stall in the nearby town of Tsiroanomandidy to sell products from each village, labelled as "Zahana products".