MRCI Establishes A First Of Its Kind Agroforest On Nosy Komba

Agreements Between MRCI and Malagasy Leaders Forge the Way Forward To A Greener Future

 

In a ground, breaking development MRCI concludes an agreement with the village of Ampasinomby to establish an agroforest. MRCI will build toilets in Ampadinombe and in turn will receive 20 thousand square meters of forest to rehabilitate. This degraded land and deforested area has been set aside for phase one of our reforestation program. The meeting was attended by the Mayor of Nosy Komba, Mr. Raymond Pappa Komba; the President of Ampangorina, Mr. Jaofena; President of the Nosy Komba Forest, Mr Edmond Bary; the President and representative of Ampasinomby Village, Mr. Joro Be; as well as MRCI representative Lucy, Rojo, David and Christina. 

Implementation of an agroforest in Nosy Komba is the first of its kind. With villages requiring to clear forest vegetation to grow crops, MRCI are pioneering the concept of growing cash crops. These are crops such as coffee, vanilla and chilly. The crops will be grown without the need to destroy or interfere with valuable ecosystems. We combined this initiative with a sanitation program for the local village.

MRCI is currently developing an agroforestry project that will create a system whereby the agricultural demands of the local community are met whilst providing a sustainable area of healthy forest for Nosy Komba’s wildlife. We aim to achieve this through working with local communities to ascertain their requirements and provide them with long term employment whilst educating them about the benefits of a healthy forest. The project will also provide evidence demonstrating the possibility of a coexistence between profitable agricultural schemes and diverse forest ecosystems. 

Ampasinomby, a coastal village of approximately 200 has for generations lived without running water or sanitation. With the assistance of MRCI and its volunteers this village will for the first time have access to flushing toilets and running showers. We recently completed a similar project in Be Village by building two toilet units and two shower units. The project includes building a water catchment area in the mountains and then piping the water to a water tank above the village. The toilet and shower units will then be fed from the tank. Sanitation is derived from the septic tank system.