Becoming Healthy and Prosperous in Madagascar

As soon as R. Niels Marquardt, the U.S. ambassador to Madagascar, arrived at the small village, he sensed something was different about this farming community in rural Madagascar.

The ADRA Madagascar staff accompanying the ambassador on his early October visit were excited to share that difference with him. Apparent throughout the village, from the joyful laughter of healthy children to the smiling faces of happy farmers, they knew that TANTSAHA, ADRA’s six-year food security project, was changing lives. Confirming this, the farmers stopped to greet him and the ADRA workers, thanking them for the differences the project had made there.

TANTSAHA, which includes agricultural, infrastructure, natural resource management, and health and nutrition interventions, stands for Tetik’asa Antoky Ny Tontolo Salama Ambanivohitra sy ny Harena Ampy in Malagasy. In English, the phrase means, “The Healthy and Prosperous Farmers Project.”

This, in a nutshell is ADRA’s goal. By the end of the project, ADRA will have increased food accessibility for 18,000 households in communities throughout the Moramanga and Anosibe An’Ala districts of eastern Madagascar, in the Alaotra Mangoro region of central Madagascar.

The project trains farmers in new or improved farming techniques while providing access to better seeds, tools, and other useful agricultural implements. TANTSAHA not only helps farmers agriculturally, but also improves infrastructure in the targeted communities through road rehabilitation, developing marketing cooperatives and business associations that assist farmers in building strong networks and successful business relationships.

IN ADDITION, TANTSAHA WORKS TO IMPROVE HEALTH AND NUTRITION, PROVIDING DIRECT NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTATION, HEALTH AND EDUCATION CLASSES, AND HELPING TO STRENGTHEN THE HEALTH SYSTEM.

The improved quality of life in this village contrast starkly to that in villages ADRA has not yet entered into. The agricultural and marketing training along with the health and nutrition initiatives for pregnant and lactating mothers and their young children have enriched the villagers’ lives and households.

Along with the farmers’ words of thanks, mothers shared with their visitors how they no longer had to take their children to the clinic or buy medicine—the children now very rarely become ill. An increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, as well as sleeping under the insecticide treated mosquito nets purchased through the social marketing program implemented by ADRA has improved the children’s overall health dramatically.

During his visit, the newly appointed ambassador was given an in-depth look into the ADRA project, which also served as an opportunity for him to better understand how the projects funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) operate and cooperate together. “The tour went very, very well,” shares Lisa Gaylord, the environment and rural team leader for the USAID Mission office in Madagascar, who joined the ambassador on the trip. “Ambassador Marquardt thought the TANTSAHA project was excellent.”

In its third year of operation, the project has already benefited more than 120,000 people. This is a great accomplishment in a country, where, according to the World Bank, 85 percent of its people live on less than two U.S. dollars a day.

“TANTSAHA and other ADRA programs are making a remarkable difference in vulnerable communities,” notes Peter Delhove, country director for ADRA Madagascar. “When I’m greeted by the toothy grin of now happy and healthy two-year-old child, that’s pretty convincing proof,” he adds, smiling.