As part of its mandate and support to countries’ Agricultural Risk Management (ARM) and Climate and agricultural strategies, the Platform for Agricultural Risk Management (PARM) with the support of IFAD country office collaborated with key partners to develop an investment project aimed at addressing ARM challenges in Madagascar. In partnership with the French Agricultural Research and Cooperation Organization (CIRAD), the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT, CGIAR centre), and the Norman Borlaug Institute of the Texas A&M University System, PARM led the design of the Agricultural Risk Management Project for Inclusive Growth and Resilience (GRACIR, French acronym). The 8-year project, with an estimated financial package of USD 110 million, garnered significant interest from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA, French acronym). To proceed with the initiative, the Malagasy government, during the Council of Ministers on 27 March 2024, has formally approved to address an official financial support request to BADEA for the implementation of the GRACIR project.
Given Madagascar’s vulnerability to climate change and other agricultural risks, the GRACIR project aims to strengthen the agricultural sector through three main components: enhancing seed production and overall capacity, increasing investments in agriculture, and establishing risk management mechanisms and support systems. These include the creation of seed and agricultural input reserves to mitigate the impact of disasters on the agricultural sector. The potential funding of USD 110 million is expected to benefit 1.5 million individuals in the Southern and Southeastern regions of Madagascar and Amoron’i Mania.
Prior to project design, PARM conducted an agricultural risk assessment using a value chain approach to gather evidence and inform the technical aspects of the project.
The Platform supports the government of Madagascar since April 2022 after the official signature of an Aide-Memoire formalizing the launch of the PARM process in Madagascar, which was then transformed into an action plan for PARM’s activities in the country, including knowledge management and capacity development in ARM, risk assessment and project design.
For more information, please contact Jean-Claude Bidogeza, Technical Specialist, PARM: j.bidogeza@ifad.org.
