Ambalamahogo literally means ‘forest of the Cassava’.  In recent months this village has become one of CPALI’s most promising project communities. The village nursery now supports thousands of seedlings, which in the coming months will be divided amongst participating farmers and planted in farmlands bordering the Makira Protected Area forest.

The journey to Ambalamahogo villages occupies the best part of a day. The trip begins at the Maroantsetra market purchasing food that cannot be bought in the small villages such as carrots, potatoes or tomatoes. From there we make our way to the public boat then up river for several hours to Ambinantelo, the last public boat stop on the river.  Ambalamalogo is then several hours of walking depending on the state of the track.  After rain the river crossings become dangerous and the mud is often knee deep   Arriving at dusk we meet with a small group of farmers who have become good friends with the CPALI team over the past few years.  Here we set up camp and organize ourselves just before the rain begins belting down, as it does almost every night.

The farmers gather for a meeting with the CPALI team at 6am before they make their way to the fields.  A group of 12 farmers meet us at the nursery to prepare plastic pots for seedlings.  The chat through the morning was mostly spent in discussion and seeking feedback as to how the CPALI project could aid the community in building on the existing capacity by incorporating the silk into the established women’s crafts and connecting them to new markets and business development skills.

Shortly after the work in the nursery I accompanied several of the farmers to the proposed sites for their new trees. CPALI’s consistency in visiting the communities and directing the program toward the farmer’s available time frame for meetings is starting to pay off. 

In the afternoon farmers are busy in the fields or drying rice, leaving the CPALI team an opportunity to organize a community concert with the many children of the village.  For two hours the children perform dancing and singing, telling short stories and reciting poetry.  Following the concert a CPALI meeting was to be held in with the community however, this was cancelled as a sudden death had taken place in the village, an all too common occurrence.  

T. Corcoran

Mamy Nirina discusses the CPALI/SEPALI project with women and girls in Ambalamahogo

Village nursery, Ambalamahogo

Village nursery, Ambalamahogo

Weaving hats and mats

Village roof tops mist and rain

Village woman weaving

Filling pot plastic for seedlings

River crossing on the track to Ambalamahogo

Farmers selecting new sites for CPALI project

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