Catching up on the Malagasy Political Scene

As you may be aware, Madagascar has a new president, Hery Rajaonarimampianina. Hery was supported in his candidacy by interim President Andry Rajoelina, and the candidate he defeated, Jean-Louis Robinson, was supported by the president Rajoelina ousted, Marc Ravalomanana. The good news is the election process was peaceful, and it seems as though the international community is ready to re-commit to Madagascar (hopefully including foreign aid, investment, and partnerships). The not-as-good-news is the continuation of some of the political crisis' worst qualities.

Electoral Shenanigans
During the vote-counting, supporters of Robinson cried foul, saying the vote totals were not matching unofficial tallies. Robinson and supporters demanded a recount, but the electoral commission CENIT upheld its count and Hery was named the new President.

Post-election Violence
A grenade, the weapon-of-choice of random acts of (allegedly political) violence in the capital of Tana the last few years, exploded at the presidential inauguration, killing a child and injuring 33. Just a horrible marring of what should be seen as a successful transition of power.

Rajoelina pulls a Putin?
But how much of a transition is it? Rajoelina strongly backed the new president, and many wonder what his next move will be. Huffington Post has a good summary of the post-election situation, including this quote which is probably surprising to very few followers of the Malagasy political scene: "(Rajoelina) now seems to be plotting a Putin-esque power grab, trading president for prime minister."

I remain optimistic - the return of foreign investment and development funds alone might be worth it. Even more so if Malagasy people can return to improving their own lives (which many were doing despite the crisis). But the story is far from over, so keep a close eye on Madagascar's politics over the next few months...

Friday Video: The Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative

As part of my work with EcoAgriculture Partners, I am supporting the work of an awesome network of committed partners: The Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative (LPFN).

Here is a video telling the LPFN story:

More Views on Manyara Ranch and the Maasai Steppe

Previously I wrote about my trip to the Arusha, Tanzania, for a dialogue on landscape-level action in the Maasai Steppe. You can read more about that dialogue at the LPFN blog (written by yours truly) and at this web page, which also features a good slide show.

Landscape-level action is not easy, but the Focal Landscape Dialogue gave Maasai Steppe Heartland stakeholders hope that they can achieve their goals through coordinated effort across sectors. In this way, their vital natural resources and wildlife can be conserved while production and livelihood interests are simultaneously advanced across the region. The dialogue participants can now move forward together and demonstrate the benefits of a landscape approach to sustainable development.

One small part of this landscape is the Manyara Ranch. This is where we visited during the dialogue and where much of my previous post focused. You may recall that pastoralists and wildlife clashed in the area that was neither private nor public property. I previously wrote: "...Tanzania decided to grant the Ranch to the Tanzania Land Conservation Trust with the dual mandate of restoring the area to wildlife use and benefiting local communities. Soon, grasslands regenerated and wild animals returned in droves." But as we dig a bit deeper, the situation surrounding Manyara Ranch becomes far more intriguing and controversial.

The Other Side of Conservation
When the issue of what to do with Manyara Ranch came before the government of Tanzania, AWF and its conservation allies lobbied hard for the establishment of a protected area. The Maasai communities, meanwhile, lobbied for their own reclamation of the land. The conservation forces won, as Tanzania created a Trust to administer the land, but with the added caveat of supporting the surrounding communities. AWF's investments appear to represent successes in both ecosystem regeneration and community development in the surrounding villages.

A few scholars have investigated further into these surrounding communities, however, and what they have found is concerning. Mara Goldman's 2011 article, Strangers in Their Own Land, found Maasai interested in conservation but also desiring ownership over the Ranch. A few quotes:
"I see that Manyara has been taken from us and I do not have faith that it will be ours again."
"I see that it has no purpose. They said it was ours, but now we get fined for entering and grazing on the grass."
"I would like it to be ours completely, like long ago. My advice would be to leave it as it is, a small conservation area, with the cattle of the ranch there, and our cattle there, all mixed together. We would all mix together and not kill any animals."

Ngeta Kabiri takes another view in Wildlife Conservation and Land Acquisitions: A Case Study of the Tanzania Land Conservation Trust. This view is focused on Manyara Ranch as an example of a land grab in Africa, albeit one focused on conservation interests rather than natural resource exploitation or large-scale agricultural production.

Compared with other land grabs, conservationist pose as risk free and as adding value to the acquired land and to the local communities as opposed to what would otherwise happen if, for example, lands such the Manyara Ranch were to fall in alternative hands. Thus the green grabs declare a win-win verdict for people and nature, even though local communities remain apprehensive of the land acquisition projects. Thus, while proponents claim they have finally delivered on the elusive Integrated Conservation and Development Projects, one that counter the pervasive risks associated with other large land deals, community disquiet interrupts this attempt to read TLCT as a case of the best practice in contemporary land grabs.

This second article is long, but it is a great history of the Ranch and a lot of the issues, even if it comes down on the side of "land grab." I think AWF and the Ranch are legitimately working with local communities to mutual benefit, and the further Maasai Steppe landscape-level collaboration is evidence of this. But these other viewpoints raise the challenges every development practitioner must be aware of in any setting, and we should all focus on the priority of empowering communities rather than dispossessing them.

Summarizing Madagascar's Major Protest Events

A paper from last year collects data from over 800 worldwide protest events between 2006 and 2013. The sheer size of the data is stunning, and the paper gathers interesting conclusions about who the protest targets are, what the protests are about, and an overall increase in civil disruption demanding real democratic processes. Here's a link to the paper: World Protests: 2006-2013 (Sept 2013) - Ortiz, Burke, Berrada, and Cortés

The whole paper is worth a read - it's long, but good for skimming as you can jump around between sections. You can also see the individual protest events by date and country. Given my interest in Madagascar, I thought it would be interesting to pull out the summaries of the Malagasy protest events.

01/09-03/09 Madagascar 
Main Grievance/Demand: Demonstrations by political movements ("Young Malagasies Determined") demanding freedom of expression, the resignation of ministers and the departure of President Marc Ravalomanana
Methods of Protest: Marches, protest assemblies, civil disobedience / direct action, destruction of property, violence
Main Opponent: Government,political party / group
Reported Repression: 135 killed, police violence, new laws

03/09-05/09 Madagascar 
Main Grievance/Demand: Demonstrations of political movements asking for the return to a civilian rule and elections after Andry Rajoelina's coups d'état
Methods of Protest: Marches, protest assemblies, civil disobedience / direct action, destruction of property, violence
Main Opponent: Corrupt political / economic system, military / police
Reported Repression: 1 killed, 34 injured, police violence

05/12 Madagascar 
Main Grievance/Demand: Return to civilian rule and speeding up the transition process
Methods of Protest: Marches, protest assemblies, civil disobedience / direct action
Main Opponent: Government
Reported Repression: Arrests, police violence

01/13 Madagascar 
Main Grievance/Demand: Violent protests in Anosy due to land grabbing by the mining company "Rio Tinto"
Methods of Protest: Marches, protest assemblies, civil disobedience / direct action, destruction of property, violence
Main Opponent: Corporations / employers, government
Reported Repression: Police violence

Protests are growing in Madagascar and around the world, so as the newly elected Malagasy President takes office, let's hope he and every global leader pay attention to the conclusion from the paper:

"Leaders, policymakers and advisors will only invite further unrest if they fail to prioritize and act on the one demand raised in more of the world’s protests between 2006 and 2013 than any other — the demand for real democracy."

Friday Video: Agricultural Innovation Systems Explained

I love this, both as an agricultural development nerd and as an animation fan with no artistic ability. Maybe I will bust out the Legos (or GI Joes - post-conflict development?) and put something together like this, someday!

Via Wageningen UR's Centre for Development Innovation

The Landscape Approach

I mentioned last month that I started working at EcoAgriculture Partners. To start the new year, I wanted to explain a bit more about the approach taken by the organization - the "Landscape" Approach. Ecoagriculture itself refers to rural communities managing their resources to jointly achieve three broad goals at a landscape scale: enhancing livelihoods; enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem services; and developing more sustainable and productive agricultural systems. The "landscape scale" portion is the key to this integrated approach - it refers to a multifunctional perspective, where people and their institutions are an integral part of the system rather than external agents operating within a landscape. It views the environment not as untouched wilderness but as inhabited land where people and their production systems interact with the natural world for mutual benefit.

Here is a cool visual example via EcoAgriculture Partners:

There are other examples to clarify the approach, such as at the GPFLR website or this interesting video from CIFOR: