(Ecofin Agency) - On August 31, 2017, in Antananarivo, capital city of Madagascar, a workshop aiming to integrate land governance in the country’s agricultural sector was held. 

Co-organized by the government and the Land Policy Initiative (LPI), a joint programme of the tripartite consortium consisting of the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the workshop helped “greenlight national report and activity plan for the integration of land governance into the national agricultural investment plan under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP)”, indicated a statement from ECA. 

According to the organizers, choosing Madagascar as host destination for the pilot project of this programme was not a random decision. “Madagascar was selected for the major project because the challenges it faces are representative of many faced by various countries all over the continent. Also, Madagascar has for long been putting a lot of efforts into land reforms, and its experience in this regard is thus more likely to benefit other nations,” said Joan Kagwanja, coordinator LPI.   

“This project comes at the right time in Madagascar as we were already supporting the CAAPD. Developing the project will indeed help boost collaboration between the various actors of the land and agricultural sectors of Madagascar and benefit the country,” said for her part Rachel Senn, representative of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). 

Let it be recalled that the World Bank recently lauded Malagasy authorities for the land reform in place in the country over the past 10 years.