Understanding pastoralism in southern Madagascar

May 2025 saw the launch of the REPAiR project’s work in Madagascar, with an event held in the capital, Antananarivo, in collaboration with another project – ‘IKI Growing Greener’. In our work in Madagascar, the REPAiR team are exploring what kinds of practices and interventions could better support resilience in the country’s rangelands. This means understanding the systems and approaches that pastoralists use, and their political, environmental and cultural contexts.

In the month before the launch event, I went to southern Madagascar to carry out a field survey of community-based grazing management in two communes of the Antsimo Andrefana region. The region is known for its semi-arid climate, vast grazing areas and deep-rooted pastoral tradition. It is an ideal location for observing local dynamics around livestock production, a vital sector for many rural communities.

As a researcher interested in the sustainable management of natural resources, particularly pastures, this mission represented a valuable opportunity to understand how local communities are adapting to environmental, social and economic pressures.

Organising mobility

Outside the city of Toliara, I visited two fokontany (basic administrative units) in the rural commune of Vineta, as well as the urban commune of Sakaraha. These areas have a strong pastoral vocation, where zebu and goat breeding are the main economic activities.

These exchanges gave me access to invaluable accounts of livestock farming practices, forms of local pasture governance and the challenges encountered.

A central observation concerned the traditional organization of grazing: each fokontany has its own grazing areas, and cattle from another fokontany are strictly forbidden to enter. This rule is not just a question of ownership or territoriality: it responds to an urgent need for security. Indeed, the region faces recurrent problems of zebu theft, and limiting cattle mobility is one way for local communities to prevent these criminal acts.

Challenges for pastoralism in Atsimo Andrefana

Combined with other factors such as bush fires, the spread of invasive plant species, and the disorganized planting of trees, the pressure on grazing land is becoming ever greater. Land degradation is visible, and livestock farmers themselves testify to the gradual reduction in useful grazing areas.

This is important because animal husbandry in the Atsimo Andrefana region is more than just an economic activity: it’s a cultural mainstay. The zebu is at the heart of many social practices, ceremonies and family statuses. In some families, even the father doesn’t know exactly how many animals the household owns. Only part of the herd is declared during census operations.

The questions that arise are the following: how do these communities use these vast pastures? How do they manage the animals? Are they satisfied with all of this, or what challenges are they facing?

To address these questions, I was able to talk to a few local players: commune mayors, fokontany chiefs, but above all herding communities. We saw the vast pastures dominated by native forage grass species, ahidambo or Heteropogon contortus and Cenchrus. The pastures are very extensive compared to those in other regions of Madagascar, which are facing rapid change: land degradation, conflicts of use, climate change, drought.

Practices, logics and solutions

What this visit shows is the importance of taking the time to listen to communities and understand local logics, and to build solutions with those on the ground.

The Antsimo Andrefana region has exceptional potential in terms of pastures and cattle and goat breeding systems. Zebu farming represents a real cultural icon in this region, and this does not seem to be changing, despite environmental, social and economic changes.

In terms of grazing management, the communes surveyed have a well-defined grazing management system to prevent theft. Breeders in one fokontany have their own pasture, and cattle from other fokontany are strictly forbidden to enter the pastures of other fokontany.

Cattle are raised in a very simple way, grazing during the day and then returning to the ‘vala’ pen in the evening, without food supplementation. They sometimes go untreated when they are ill, since the vets are far away. The owner never declares the exact number of his animals; even his family doesn’t know the exact number of their animals for security reasons. So, there are undoubtedly uncounted animals who have spread to other pastoral areas and are breeding in the wild.

The challenges encountered are above all the lack of water, and the lack of feed for the zebus during the dry period, which is a little longer – up to 10 months without rain – than in other regions of Madagascar.

Faced with this situation, the communities use Raketa cactus (prickly pear) to feed the animals. Some animals enter the forests, some of which are protected, in search of water or green grasses. Other challenges include climate change, zebu theft, an invasive grass species and grazing fires.

Pastoralists’ voices matter

The trip to Toliara was a rich learning experience. It highlighted the complexity of pastoral systems and the need for integrated approaches to their preservation.

In a context of global change, the voices of pastoral communities must be heard, respected and supported. This is an essential condition for a transition towards more sustainable and inclusive ways of life in the Atsimo Andrefana region, as elsewhere.

The practice of not declaring livestock numbers, whether voluntary or cultural, poses a challenge to sustainable management policies, and land or pastoral or even economic security (because of predators, thieves, disease, etc.). And the restriction of access to neighbouring pastures sometimes hinders the efficient distribution of forage resources, especially during periods of drought. To respond to these problems, it is important to understand the rationales behind them.

Broader implications

The challenges observed in Toliara are not unique to this region. Similar dynamics are found in other pastoral areas of Southern Africa: land pressure, degradation of pastures, and the marginalization of herders in public policies.

These communities aspire to progress but are limited by lack of support, bearing alone the pressures of ongoing changes. They make considerable efforts to cope with these challenges, but they need new strategies based on the realities on the ground.

There are certain practices that hinder the development of this region, particularly in cattle farming. Among them is the taboo against using cow manure, which is nonetheless essential for fertilizing the soil—whether for agriculture or even just for maintaining pastures.

However, there are also practices that are already relevant but require improvement and support to be fully effective. One example is the collective management of pastures at the fokontany level, which could be enhanced by introducing regeneration techniques. The use of the Raketa cactus is also a promising solution to drought in livestock farming; it would therefore be useful to develop a clear plan for its cultivation.

A sustainable rangeland management and livestock system should be established in this region to better harness its enormous potential, and to support communities in building resilience and adapting to climatic, political, and economic changes. This model must take into account the region’s specific cultural traditions.

All photos: Livasoa Randriamanalina