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In the southern Androy and Anosy regions of Madagascar, communities face some of the country¡¯s most severe socio-economic and environmental challenges. Limited access to stable work severely hinders local development and deepens household vulnerability. Chronic drought and unique windstorms, known locally as Tiomena, cause lasting damage to agriculture, livestock, and core livelihoods. This ongoing stress places pressure on food security, nutrition, and overall community resilience.

To address these challenges, the Government of Madagascar launched the MIONJO Project in December 2020. With funding from the World Bank, the project is implemented under the leadership of the Ministry of the Interior and Decentralization (MID) and coordinated closely with the Ministry of Land Planning and Land Services (MDAT) and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD). These ministries not only guide strategic planning but also oversee operational aspects such as community targeting, coordination, and monitoring of progress.

With a budget of $188 million, of which $11.4 million is allocated to green infrastructure, MIONJO is part of Madagascar¡¯s country strategy and supports its climate change commitments under the Nationally Determined Contributions and the National Adaptation Plan. The project¡¯s core goals are to improve access to basic infrastructure and livelihoods, strengthen local governance with a focus on youth and women, and ensure rapid and effective responses to food security crises and other emergencies.

MIONJO¡¯s subcomponent 3D, overseen by MEDD, involves partnerships with local organizations like Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Madagascar. This subcomponent focuses on green infrastructure and resilient landscape development.

The implementation approach is cash-for-work, ensuring that environmental restoration meets urgent community needs. This approach not only allows community members to earn income but also promotes savings, financial literacy, and even seed capital for small businesses, laying the foundation for long-term livelihood resilience. Operational coordination at the local level is conducted under the supervision of MDAT and MEDD, ensuring strong public leadership in the field.
 

Sambeterake Marchetine, a 38-year-old mother of five, is one of the many community members who benefited from this initiative. Previously, she struggled to meet her family¡¯s basic needs, with scarce food, children missing school, and fields buried under sand. Her situation improved when she was selected to work as a team leader for a local cash-for-work activity. Over 87 days, she earned a daily income and saved part of it. Through a savings group, she built small financial reserves. With her savings, Marchetine opened a small grocery shop that allows her to provide regular meals, pay for her children¡¯s schooling, and make home improvements including a sturdy roof and a water basin. Her once barren land is now fertile again, with agricultural production five times higher than before.

This same combination of opportunity and structure helped transform the life of Tsiombota, a fisherman in a coastal village. Until recently, Tsiombota had to rent his fishing net and canoe, drastically limiting his earnings. After participating in 98 days of cash-for-work activities, including dune stabilization and watershed rehabilitation, he saved enough income to purchase his own fishing net. He can now fish on his own schedule and has significantly increased his daily income. Encouraged by this progress, Tsiombota also plans to purchase a canoe. He intends to use his earnings and apply for a loan from his savings group, which he joined after the project introduced financial support systems such as savings and lending communities and village savings and loan associations.

These are not just stories of economic uplift; they demonstrate how the financial tools and structured engagement promoted by MIONJO equip people to expand their potential through small but transformative investments.

The project¡¯s environmental impacts are equally tangible. In a village once haunted by the fear of sand engulfing fields, residents are now reclaiming their land. Botoasa, the village chief of Ankilimiary, recalls, ¡°We were afraid to plant anything because the sand would destroy it. Our fields were left untouched, out of fear.¡±

In response, the community mobilized around land protection efforts. They planted native species such as laloasy, lalanda, and mozotse around vulnerable areas. These plants were selected for their suitability to local conditions and their ability to stabilize the soil. A few months after planting, residents began seeing results: young plants thrived, the dunes stopped advancing, and the soil once again became suitable for cultivation.

¡°Our crops are growing again, and the soil is protected. We have regained hope,¡± says Botoasa, who, although not personally involved in the labor, witnessed the transformation. His testimony is a reminder that community-wide mobilization, paired with technical expertise, can restore both land and confidence.

In April 2025, MIONJO expanded its efforts in Androy and Anosy, selecting new participants for reforestation and dune stabilization activities. Simultaneously, CRS reinforced its financial support structures to bolster savings, credit, and entrepreneurship. Results to date are impressive: 1,020 hectares of land reforested, over 1,094 hectares of dunes stabilized, 100 kilometers of windbreak trees planted, and more than 1.7 million seedlings grown in local nurseries.

These numbers are more than statistics, they represent lives like Marchetine¡¯s, Tsiombota¡¯s, and Botoasa¡¯s. Each figure reflects a family with greater income security, a farmer returning to cultivated fields, or a fisherman steering his future. The MIONJO Project, through its integrated approach, shows how a carefully designed intervention can meet both immediate needs and long-term goals, helping southern Madagascar's communities not just survive, but build forward with dignity and hope.

Through the MIONJO project, implemented with financial and technical support from the World Bank, the Government of Madagascar reaffirms its commitment to promoting sustainable, resilient development. This strategic collaboration illustrates a shared vision of a future in which communities in southern Madagascar can overcome structural and environmental challenges through integrated solutions rooted in local realities.