Burning for zebu: The complexity of deforestation issues in western Madagascar

This study takes a human-geographical approach to examine the crucial problem of deforestation in Madagascar. Current land-use practices on the west coast threaten the survival of the dry primary forest, which exists in a delicate ecological balance under a climate bordering on aridity. A shifting-agriculture system, encouraged by government policy aimed at expanding crop cultivation, is the major factor contributing to the reduction of forested land. The forest is set on fire and the burns used to cultivate maize. After three years, yields drop dramatically, and people search for new areas of forest to clear. The practice is likely to lead to the complete disappearance of the western forests if nothing is done to change the current situation. The main practitioners are migrant Tandroy from the south of Madagascar. They migrate for reasons related to widespread local poverty and cultural practices linked to their reverence for cattle. They destroy the forests less for immediate survival than in order to gain possession of as many zebu as possible, which for them is the only way to acquire social status. Because Androy, their home region, is too poor to permit such acquisitions, migration to and deforestation of the western forest becomes an attractive alternative. The sale of maize to private exporters at a high price provides profits that can be used to buy cattle. This cultivation contributes little to food production in Madagascar, and the Tandroy , motivated by cultural considerations, stand at the base of a chain of exploitation that ends overseas. Agricultural and conservation policies in Madagascar currently do not address cultural and economic complexities such as these.

Keywords:

• Cultural Practices
• Deforestation
• Migration
• Western Madagascar