Socio-economic recovery from cyclones Ana and Batsiraï in the Analamanga and Fitovinany regions of Madagascar

Summary

In May 2022, in order to mitigate the adverse effects of the cyclones on the social and economic situation of the population in Madagascar, the ILO implemented the «Socio-economic Recovery Project following Cyclones Ana and Batsirai in the Analamanga and Fitovinany regions of Madagascar». This is a recovery project that targets the population directly affected by the cyclones. Two major activities have been selected, including i) the implementation of hydro-agricultural development works and the rehabilitation of damaged technical education institutions in order to improve the socio-economic resilience of local communities affected by cyclones and ii) the improvement of governance in terms of risk management and recovery. Indeed, each year, nearly 70,000 farmers in the Antananarivo plain lose more than 13,000 tons of their rice production when 2,900 hectares of rice fields are flooded by cyclones just before the harvest period. In order to remedy this situation, the Project decided to implement, following the EIIP approach, the cleaning of the irrigation canals.

The objectives were exceeded by the fact that the project carried out manual cleaning of 10 irrigation canals measuring 27.65 km in total, whereas the initial objective was 22 km. The effectiveness of this activity is proven since for this year 2023, no flooding is noted in the plain of Antananarivo during the passage of cyclone Cheneso, having an intensity comparable to that of Batsiraï, in January 2023. However, it is noted that the sustainability of the results obtained for the cleaning of irrigation canals in the middle of the agglomeration remains a great challenge.

The activity of rehabilitation or reconstruction of technical establishments has been chosen in order to allow the rapid return to school of students deprived of classes. For this activity, priority has been given to the Technical and Professional Training Center for Women in Mananjary in the Vatovavy region, and the Professional Training Center of Tsianolondroa in Fianarantsoa, in the Haute Matsi region.

As part of improving governance in risk management and recovery, the Project organized capacity building for constituents and stakeholders on ILO Recommendation No. 205, which specifically addresses employment and decent work for peace and resilience. This activity was also successful as the training workshop, conducted by staff from the ILO Training Center in Turin and DEVINVEST, was attended by 59 people representing all the Project’s constituents and stakeholders.

The management of the project is focused on tangible results. It is a project focused on human, environmental, economic and social values, which is the contribution of ILO Madagascar to the realization of the vision of the Director General, which is to advance the cause of social justice to overcome the fight against inequality.

Project Context:

The high labor intensity approach (EIIP), implemented for about thirty years by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Madagascar, is adopted in the realization of several projects in the field of infrastructure (rural roads, hydro-agricultural developments, urban developments, etc.) and basic social services (school buildings, market places, ...).

Given the urgency following the passage of cyclones Ana and Batsirai in Madagascar during the respective periods of January 22-23, 2022, and February 15-16, 2022, extraordinary funding from the ILO Director General’s reserve allows for the rapid launch of urgent response actions to the crisis based on the ILO’s experience in the construction/rehabilitation of basic and hydro-agricultural infrastructure using the EIIP approach. The current project aims at manual cleaning following the EIIP structured approach of the GR, C2 and CS irrigation canals, of a length of 22 km, in the Analamanga Region.

Among the project stakeholders, the contracting authority is the Commune Urbaine d’Antananarivo, the delegated contracting authority is the ILO, the project manager is a labour-based engineering firm, while labour-based companies, as well as the labour-based training center and the MRL/HIMO Association are carrying out the work.

In addition, rehabilitation work was carried out in the Women’s Vocational Training Center (CFPF) in Mananjary, and subsequently, given that the Vocational Training Center (CFP) in Fianarantsoa does not even have its own infrastructure, the Project also prioritized an intervention at this site, through new construction instead of rehabilitation work, given that the CFP in Fianarantsoa previously used very old infrastructure.

Objectives :

The Project has two main objectives, namely:

• The socio-economic resilience of local communities affected
• Governance for risk management and recovery is improved

Activities and Results :

During the project implementation period, the following results were achieved Trainings :

• Training of team leaders on the principles of the structured labor-based approach, team management and OHS: 21 team leaders including 15 women (71.43%) ;
• Training and sensitization of all beneficiaries recruited from the local population in order to improve their employability and open up employment opportunities, even beyond the rehabilitation work: 616 beneficiaries including 224 women (36.36%) ;
• Technical training in water management to improve productivity and crop protection: 616 beneficiaries including 224 women (36.36%)
• Training aimed at
  (i) informing and training stakeholders on the principle and content of ILO Recommendation 205,
  (ii) exchanging on the relevance of R.205 to the context of Madagascar,
  (iii) identifying courses of action for the application of R.205: 59 participants including 25 women (42.37%) ;
• Capacity building of users’ associations for the maintenance and sustainability of infrastructures: 4 users’ associations.

Investments :

• 41 fokontany served, along the 10 irrigation canals developed ;
• 70,000 farmers of the Antananarivo plain, beneficiaries of the irrigation canals development works ;
• 380 students benefited from the 2 technical schools rehabilitated or rebuilt.

Job creation :

• 21 labour-based team leaders, including 15 women (71.43%) for the cleaning of irrigation canals ;
• 502 beneficiaries, 224 of whom are women (44.62%) for the cleaning of irrigation canals
• 14 people for the transport of cleaning products ;
• 32 members of staff from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and design offices (DOs) for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of technical schools.