Onion and peanut: differentiation cultures of farmers for the development of the district of Bekily-Madagascar

• Published in: Acta horticulturae no. 921; pp. 71 - 78
• Main Authors: Ramananarivo, R, Rapanoel, D.K, Ramananarivo, S, Andriamanalina, S.I
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: International Society for Horticultural Science 01.01.2011
• Subjects: farmers; food crops; food security; foods; income; labor; onions; peanuts; profit maximization; purchasing; rural poverty; value added
• ISSN: 0567-7572
• DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2011.921.8

The district of Bekily in the Southern part of Madagascar is subjected to seasonal food insecurity, with a prevalence rate of 4.1. Although farmers primarily grow food crops for their own consumption, they also produce onion and peanut. Earlier reports showed that farmers grow onion and peanut in a sporadic way. However, these two cultures also fit well with the agro-ecological conditions of this region. The current study reveals that the traditional techniques of onion and peanut production have a low growth rate, and the production quantity is relatively low. Therefore, the development of their production has the potential to significantly increase the local population income. In fact, farmers will likely be able to purchase food by using the onion sale. The study aims to contribute to the process of finding an economic and social strategy to eradicate rural poverty. The culture of onion and peanut are chosen to differentiate farmers. The plan of the study is to come up with an adequate exploitation development strategy. The Boston Consulting Group matrix reveals a significant importance of onion and peanut compared to other food crops. We used the multi-factorial analysis for the farmers’ typology. A technical-economic modelling is required to determine exploitations’ strategies. An extension program has been undertaken while studies demonstrate that these two activities are profitable. The exploitations are classified in four types: subsistence strategy, family labour compensation strategy, maximization of value added per surface unit, and profit maximization strategy. The model gives the optimal surface for each culture and each farmer type.