Context: Poverty levels among the general population have worsened as a result of the ongoing political crisis in Madagascar, which began in 2009. Poverty has increased significantly in several regions - especially Analamanga, which is home to the capital city Antananarivo. This is the most densely populated city in Madagascar, with over 2 million inhabitants. Retail prices are high due to the chronic gap between supply and urban demand for certain market garden products, traditional poultry, fresh milk and fish, and fuelwood. Producers face multiple constraints, many capture very little of the added value created by value chains, and are seeing their environment deteriorate due to the effects of erosion. All these factors are exacerbating the insecurity of a large number of consumers and agroforestry producers around Antananarivo.

The 5-year, €20m Antananarivo area Agroforestry support programme (ASA) was designed to help resolve these problems. Its global objective is to make a sustainable contribution to poverty reduction in Madagascar and help protect the natural environment. Its specific objective is to improve producer incomes in the Antananarivo area and help local people access a secure market for agricultural produce and fuelwood.
Three results need to be achieved in order to realise this specific objective:
R 1. Producers and other actors involved in agricultural and forestry value chains are organised and have an increased operational capacity.
R 2. Producers face an enabling environment for secured investments.
R 3. Quantitative and qualitative improvements in agricultural, livestock, fishery and forestry production.

The programme aims to tackle major constraints in production and outlets, by supporting a number of voluntary initiatives in agroforestry value chains selected for their potential to create added value: market gardening, free-range poultry production, dairy sector, aquaculture, fruit farming and forestry. The post-project strategy is to transfer responsibility to farmers’ organisations via established networks or existing farmers’ organisations.

DUEM is responsible for direct decentralised management of the ASA programme: mobilizing operators through calls for proposals (CUMA, fruit farming, free-range poultry farming, fisheries and fuelwood), awarding direct grants to SNGF (producing plants for forestation activities) and the Malagasy Dairy Board (support for the dairy sector), and delegating the subsidy to AFD to implement the land component. DUEM is supported and advised by a programme Coordination Unit that is responsible for overall coordination, harmonising the different approaches, certain crosscutting functions and the following activities:

• overseeing coordination between the different value chain components and the land component
• establishing the baseline situation in the intervention zone
• helping evaluate proposals for ‘value chain support’ and selecting grant beneficiaries
• awareness raising and support to ensure that programme activities take account of crosscutting issues such as gender, environment, climate change and governance
• designing and implementing a communication and programme visibility plan
• designing an overall mechanism to monitor and evaluate programme actions, monitoring activities in the field, measuring the results and impacts generated by the project across the entire intervention zone
• preparing steering committee meetings
• facilitating monitoring by the ministries and ensuring that the programme is consistent with their sub-sectoral policies.

The Coordination Unit is responsible for the following project management activities as per the programme estimates:

• supporting interprofessional dialogue in the timber sector
• media activities
• advice and support to input distributors
• strengthening market information systems
• putting producers in touch with financial services
• product labelling
• demand-led technical support for all operators in the value chains.