Madagascar: Linking Actors for Regional Opportunities (LARO) Program

The vast majority of Madagascar's population depends on subsistence agriculture for its livelihood, causing environmental degradation that threatens not only biological diversity but also the watershed and soil stability vital to an agrarian economy. The LARO program addresses Madagascar's severe environmental crisis and agrarian poverty through a public-private alliance between USAID/Madagascar and the multinational mining conglomerate Rio Tinto/QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM). The programs focuses on the participatory identification of local development and conservation priorities, the creation of a regional development framework, the selection of environmentally and economically sound activities within the framework, and technical assistance in the management of those activities.

Key Results

• Anosy Regional Development Framework. The 130-member General Assembly of the Regional Development Committee for the Anosy region has developed and approved the Regional Development Framework, facilitating the rapid and appropriate implementation of various projects. The national government already views the Framework as a model and reference tool for other regions.
• Fort Dauphin Urban Development Plan. The city of Fort Dauphin has created an Urban Development Plan that is integrated into the Regional Development Framework. The Plan has already leveraged the interest and support of other donors, including the World Bank, which selected the city as a priority "growth pole" for its IG2P project.
• Communal development plans. Communities have established Communal Development Plans that align with the Regional Development Framework and promote environmental sustainability.
• Conservation site. Working toward the designation of the Ambatotsirongorongo forest as a conservation site, the LARO team has carried out various biodiversity diagnostic studies, has sensitized local communities to the need to protect this threatened habitat, and has facilitated the development and preliminary implementation of a concerted site management plan.