Since the end of November, the Malagasy capital has experienced less than ten days of rain. At the same time, in previous years, Antananarivo had already experienced heavy rainy episodes, classic for the season. Consequence: water resources are depleted and agricultural production is threatened.
2 mins
With our correspondent in Antananarivo, Pauline Le Troquier
The lack of rain is strongly felt in Fenoarivo, a town located about ten kilometers from Antananarivo, which provides part of the city’s vegetable needs. There, an entire sector, from growers to consumers, is suffering from the lack of rain.
With each stroke of the shovel, Desy catches her breath in the middle of a plain supposed to be saturated with water. Here the earth has become gravelly and hard to work. This 48-year-old vegetable farmer witnesses the degradation of the soil from year to year. This season in particular, he anticipates poor harvests: “ Before, our cabbages were large and of good quality, but the soils have deteriorated, and today, they are as small as my fist! Same for the corn you see there, the stalks were much more covered in cobs in the past. »
A few hundred meters from the agricultural plots, in a shopping street, Miarisoa welcomes its customers. Like her, sellers of carrots, cabbage and other seasonal vegetables in the town lack stock and are saddened by poor quality products. “ Here, we have a lot of land, but without rain, we can no longer cultivate it ! This even leads to theft and insecurity in the neighborhood, because we simply don’t have anything to eat », laments the shopkeeper.
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Products imported from other regions
In front of this stall dotted with a few carrots and onions, a loyal customer is annoyed by a paradox. Due to lack of rain, sellers in this area renowned for the fertility of its land must obtain supplies in town from a market in the capital to meet the needs of the municipality alone: “ The vegetables you see come from Anosibe [le marché d’Antananarivo où affluent des denrées de toute l’île, NDLR.], because here at the moment, we don’t have any vegetables. Because of the climate, we can no longer supply the people in the neighborhood. Sellers here are forced to buy vegetables elsewhere, outside. »
The lack of rain is already affecting the city’s households on a daily basis, faced with serial power cuts. Another direct consequence for consumers is the rise in vegetable prices, which risks ultimately weakening food security around the capital.
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