Madagascar Cacao — Jewel of the Industry
A new USAID private sector partnership increases biodiversity and rural incomes in Madagascar
A well-worn path cuts through the heart of a large cacao plantation in Ambanja, northwestern Madagascar. Tall bonara trees overhang the route, providing necessary shade to clusters of beautiful cacao trees and protect workers from the blazing sun. More than 50 employees bustle around the plantation, caring for and cultivating the cacao seeds that will one day be turned into mouthwatering fine chocolate.
This land was not always so prosperous, says Lalatiana Andrianarison, a prominent cacao grower whose innovative methods are being used as a model for other Malagasy cacao and spice farmers, supported by a USAID-funded public-private partnership called the TSIRO Alliance.
“It was hard, really hard [in the beginning],” says Lalatiana. “There were only three people to do the work; myself and two employees. Many wild boars would destroy whatever we planted.”
Lalatiana, 40 years old and married with two kids, now owns three cacao plantations totaling 85 hectares (roughly 210 acres). Cacao is in his blood. Lalatiana’s grandfather started a family plantation back in the old colonial days. In his early 20s, Lalatiana began work as a cacao collector for a private company — he would travel to the different growers in his region collecting processed cacao for exportation.
Not satisfied as a mere collector, he decided to go at it alone after a few years. In 2008, he took over his grandfather’s operation.
Lalatiana persisted through his early struggles and eventually struck up a partnership with Beyond Good, a U.S. chocolate company to which he began providing processed cacao. Today, his plantation is now Beyond Good’s main supplier of cacao.
“I admire Lalatiana’s perseverance. Some people stop at the slightest problem, but Lalatiana has stood fast,” says Ryan Kelley, a former Peace Corps volunteer who is now the managing director of Beyond Good, a Brooklyn and Madagascar based chocolate company, and a member of the USAID-supported Alliance. “He is a model for cacao and spice farmers in Madagascar, and our partnership under the TSIRO Alliance will help other farmers follow in his footsteps.”
Over the next five years, the Alliance will support 2,000 farmers in 30 communities and plant more than 1.5 million trees over the next five years to support agroforestry systems and biodiversity.
Lalatiana attributes his success to trying new things. One important innovative practice he embraced was mixed-agroforestry, where farmers identify crops that benefit each other and grow them together in the same field. For example, Lalatiana grows bonara and other fruit trees and plants, like bananas and oranges, alongside his cacao, providing much needed shade, as well as additional cash crops such as pineapple and vanilla. This practice benefits and improves the yield and quality of his cacao, and also diversifies and expands his income from other crops.
Mixed-agroforestry is one of the practices that USAID’s TSIRO Alliance will encourage cacao farmers to adopt.
“These agroforestry systems are a win-win,” says Agathe Sector, the director for USAID/Madagascar’s Office of Sustainable Environment and Economic Development. “They conserve biodiversity by providing habitat for lemurs and other forest dwelling animal species, and they produce the conditions necessary for farmers to grow high quality cacao, which they can then sell to international buyers for a premium.”
Lalatiana’s plantations are located in the northwest of Madagascar, the heartland of Madagascar’s cacao production.
However a major objective of the TSIRO Alliance is to expand cacao operations into the southeast, which will increase national production and diversify incomes in a poorer region of Madagascar that has high biodiversity value.
The Alliance will also plant more than 1.5 million trees and provide more than 2,000 farmers with financial literacy training to improve their capacity to negotiate with buyers, skills that will help them earn a fair price for their products.
These methods have worked for Lalatiana. Today, Lalatiana produces 70 to 80 tons of ready-to-sell processed cacao annually. In the near future, Lalatiana aims to produce 100 tons of processed cacao on an annual basis. And in 2019, Lalatiana received the International Cocoa Award at the Paris Chocolate Fair where the cocoa bean that he submitted was selected as one of that year’s best 50 samples.
“The Madagascar cacao species is among the best in the world, unfortunately we don’t produce enough. I wish more Malagasy people worked in the cacao business because it’s a source of national pride,” says Lalatiana.
The TSIRO Alliance is part of USAID’s Health, Ecosystems, and Agriculture for Resilient, Thriving Societies (HEARTH) family of public-private partnerships that leverage cross-sectoral efforts to improve the well-being of people and the planet. TSIRO partners include USAID, Catholic Relief Services, the Fine Chocolate Industry Association, Beyond Good, Akesson’s Chocolate, Guittard Chocolate, and the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund. On March 8, Beyond Good was named one of Fast Company’s 10 most innovative social good companies of 2022.
To learn more about TSIRO, please visit: https://www.makeminefine.com
About the Authors
Bruno Rasamoel is a former Development Outreach and Communications Specialist for USAID’s Mission in Madagascar; Zack Taylor is the Senior Development Outreach and Communications Advisor at the same Mission.
