Survival Migrations in the South of Madagascar
Madagascar is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, but the country is the subject of various projects aimed at measuring, analyzing, and mitigating ecosystem degradation. Anthropogenic activities are of particular concern, with activities in rural areas crystallizing these concerns.
At the top of the hierarchy of destructive activities are artisanal mining and slash-and-burn agriculture, which have long been abhorred by conservationists.
Are the survival migrations that have plagued the south of Madagascar over the past twenty years solely the product of climate variability, or are they the result of a combination of factors (climatic, social, economic, etc.) that should lead to a relativization of the role of the “natural” factor?
It is a fact that a population of migrants, forced to abandon traditional production systems to survive, is massively migrating to the north.
Even when reduced to a regional scale, the study of climate migration is a vast and complex subject that requires a variety of approaches.
In particular, the analysis of the consequences of drought periods on ecosystems – such as the development of pests – and production systems in the south of Madagascar deserves further investigation.
The ongoing drought is causing survival migrations and massive exodus of the Antandroy and Mahafaly tribes in Madagascar.
The first detailed studies on migrations began after the French conquest. They highlight migrations caused by the expansion of the Merina people, but also those triggered and sustained by European colonization with the creation of security, new labor demands, and improved interregional communication.
Now we are witnessing a survival migration of ethnic groups from southern Madagascar, leaving the land of their ancestors because climate change and persistent drought make survival impossible.
The Antandroy people share this very dry area with the Mahafaly people and due to water scarcity, practice very few food crops (cassava, sweet potatoes, corn…).
