Madagascar Shows Why the Future of Agricultural Innovation Must Be Integrated

19 March 2026

Aligning science, investment, and national systems to build resilient food systems

In Madagascar today, the stakes for agricultural transformation could not be higher.

Agriculture is the primary livelihood for most Malagasy households, employing about 78% of the workforce, with roughly 80% of the population relying on agriculture (FAO/World Bank data).

Climate shocks-cyclones, droughts, and increasingly erratic rainfall-regularly disrupt planting seasons and destroy harvests. In many communities, the agricultural calendar that farmers once relied upon has become increasingly unpredictable.

Food insecurity and malnutrition are widespread in Madagascar, with a large share of households experiencing periodic food shortages, particularly in rural areas dependent on rainfed agriculture (WFP, World Bank). Nutrition security is a challenge with high rates of stunting and micronutrient deficiencies persisting despite the country's agricultural potential. Extreme rates of malnutrition drain human capital development. The economic cost of malnutrition is estimated at up to 10-14 percent of GDP, driven by lost productivity and higher health costs (World Bank 2020).[1]

Madagascar's situation is not unique. Across much of the developing world, food systems face the same convergence of pressures: climate change, environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, demographic growth, especially in urban and peri-urban areas, and fragile rural economies.

But Madagascar offers something more than a stark reminder of these challenges.

It is emerging as an important testing ground for a new model of agricultural innovation-one that connects science, policy, capacity strengthening, and prioritizing agricultural investment in ways that are more integrated, collaborative, and responsive to real-world complexity.

Madagascar can be model of how international and national research systems and development finance institutions can work together to translate innovation into large-scale agricultural transformation.

From Fragmented Research to System Transformation

For decades, global agricultural research has delivered remarkable technological breakthroughs-from improved crop varieties and agronomic packages to resilient livestock systems and soil management. These innovations have helped raise productivity and improve food and nutrition security globally. Yet too often these innovations have struggled to reach farmers at scale.

Part of the reason that farmers may not access innovations at scale is structural and contextual. The other part could be that agricultural challenges are rarely isolated, and farmers often face multiple constraints including degraded soils, unpredictable weather patterns, limited access to quality seeds and inputs, weak markets, and limited dietary diversity within their households.

Technologies developed and delivered in isolation rarely solve these interconnected realities farmers face.

Recognizing this, CGIAR launched a major institutional transformation in 2020, moving from a collection of largely independent research programs toward a unified global research system and integrated partnership guided by a 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy.

The goal is to align scientific expertise across disciplines and institutions so that research could address food-system challenges as interconnected systems rather than isolated sectors.

As we often emphasize:

"Farmers do not experience agriculture in silos. Their challenges come as a package-and therefore our approach to provide solutions must be integrated and must offer multiple options to farmers."

Why Madagascar Matters

Madagascar provides a compelling example of why this shift is necessary.

Agriculture sits at the heart of Madagascar's economy and food and nutrition security. Rice alone is cultivated on roughly 1.3 million hectares, forming the backbone of both rural livelihoods and national diets.[2] Territorial heterogeneity has fostered the development of a large variety of farming systems, with various crops grown in humid, dry and high-altitude tropical climates. Yet productivity remains far below potential due to soil degradation, limited access and farmer uptake of innovations, pests and diseases, and increasing climate stress. There are limited diversification options in the cropping systems to help farmers adopt to the climate stress and build resilience.

The country's livestock sector also faces serious challenges including low investment, low productivity and absence of reliable data. To address these challenges, Madagascar recently launched a national livestock master plan, aiming to improve sustainable productivity and strengthen value chain competitiveness. The plan focuses on priority value chains like poultry, zebu, bovine dairy, pork, and small ruminants.

Climate projections suggest that rainy seasons may become shorter and less predictable, compressing planting windows in key production zones. Rising temperatures and extreme weather events are already affecting harvests.[3]

At the same time, regions such as the Central Highlands-one of the country's most productive agricultural regions-also experience some of the highest rates of malnutrition.

These overlapping challenges make Madagascar an ideal setting to test more integrated approaches to agricultural transformation.

Integrated Science in Practice

During a recent joint mission to Madagascar, leaders from several CGIAR centers engaged with national partners and development institutions to explore how coordinated scientific partnerships could better support the country's agricultural transformation.

The delegation included leadership from AfricaRice, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), International Potato Center (CIP), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

The visit illustrated how CGIAR centers can increasingly work as a coordinated scientific partnership, combining complementary expertise in crops, livestock, soil health, and climate resilience.

Each institution contributes a critical piece of the puzzle.

AfricaRice advances innovations in rice systems and seed development. IITA contributes climate-smart technologies for staple crops such as cassava, maize, and soybean. ILRI supports resilient livestock systems and forage development. CIP advances improved potato and sweet potato systems suited to highland agriculture, while ICRISAT contributes expertise on dryland crops such as millet, sorghum, groundnuts, and pigeonpea, and soil and water management technologies.

Individually, each center contributes valuable knowledge.

Together, they help design integrated solutions for entire food systems and support capacity strengthening of national partners.

"The real strength of CGIAR is not in the excellence of any single center-it is in what we can achieve when we bring our science together."

Aligning Science with Development Investments

Madagascar also highlights another critical shift in the global agricultural landscape: the growing alignment between research and major development investments.

During the mission, CGIAR leaders met with officials from national programs, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, FOFIFA, FIFAMANOR, CFFAMMA, and SOC to strengthen the synergy between research, technical framework, certification, and financing; and to align research programs with national priorities. They also engaged with the Government of Madagascar and development partners, including the World Bank, the African Development Bank (AfDB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and CIRAD.

These institutions are investing heavily in strengthening food-system resilience and agricultural productivity.

Research generates innovations, but development programs such as the World Bank's Food Systems Resilience Program provide the scale and financing needed to bring those innovations to millions of farmers.

CGIAR centers are increasingly working as an integrated scientific partner supporting national programs and development investments, helping ensure that innovations in seeds, farming systems, and climate adaptation are embedded within large-scale agricultural initiatives.

When science and investment move together, innovations move faster and at far greater scale.

"Scientific breakthroughs matter little if they remain in research stations. Our responsibility is to ensure they reach farmers' fields."

Connecting Science, Finance, and National Systems

Perhaps the most important lesson emerging from Madagascar is the need to strengthen the connections between science, financing, and national institutions.

A recent World Bank study found that public spending on agricultural research and innovation in Madagascar is low and fragmented, with limited and volatile budget allocations that constrain the ability of national research institutions to deliver adaptive technologies at scale.

Agricultural transformation requires more than good research. It requires strong innovation systems that translate scientific knowledge into practical solutions at scale-through extension services, seed systems, farmer organizations, markets, and supportive policies.

Madagascar is beginning to show how this alignment can take shape. Research organizations, national institutions, and development partners are increasingly working together to ensure that innovation supports national priorities and reaches farmers.

The journey is still unfolding. But Madagascar is showing how integrated science partnerships and development investments can begin to deliver solutions to complex food-system challenges.

In that sense, the country is not only confronting one of the world's most difficult development environments.

It is also emerging as a living laboratory for collaborative agricultural innovation, offering lessons on how science and development partnerships can help transform food systems across Africa and beyond.

Key Takeaways

Several important insights emerge:

Integrated science delivers greater impact. Food-system challenges require coordinated solutions that address crops, livestock, soils, climate, and markets together.

Aligning science with investment accelerates scaling. When research partnerships connect with large development programs such as the Food Systems Resilience Program, innovations can reach farmers faster and at scale.

Strong national research and innovation systems are essential. Connecting research institutions, extension services, farmers, and markets is critical to translating scientific advances into improved livelihoods and food security.

There is a strong need and opportunity to shift agricultural research funding from ad hoc project financing to predictable, multi-year budget lines.

Contributed by

Dr. Simeon K. Ehui, Director General, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and CGIAR Regional Director for Africa, [email protected]

Dr. Baboucarr Manneh, Director General, AfricaRice, [email protected]

Prof. Appolinaire Djikeng, Director General, International Livestock Research Institute, [email protected]

Dr. Joyce Maru, Africa Regional Director, International Potato Center, [email protected]

Dr. Henry Ojulong, Senior Breeder, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, [email protected]

Dr. Stephen D'Alessandro, Senior Agriculture Specialist, World Bank [email protected]

[1] In 2016, the annual costs associated with malnutrition in Madagascar were estimated at 14 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). (World Bank)

[2] The average Malagasy consumes 153.5 kilograms of rice annually, which represents more than half of their total daily caloric intake (IMF).

[3] Under RCP 8.5, a business-as-usual scenario under which greenhouse emissions continue to rise unabated, annual rice production in Madagascar would decline by 25 percent by 2080. Given that FAO projections are based on agro-climatic conditions and exclude natural disaster shocks including cyclones, droughts, and floods, which would intensify with the climate crisis, these projections likely underestimate the adverse impact of climate change on rice production in Madagascar (IMF) - https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/2025/061/article-A003-en.xml.