Projects in Madagascar

Agriculture

Madagascar is one of the most biodiverse nations in the world and grows some of the most valuable crops on the international market. Yet, too commonly, rural communities do not have the access to a diversity of foods needed to raise healthy families.

To address food production and household nutrition needs, Peace Corps Madagascar’s Food Security project seeks to strengthen the capacity of household decision makers, gardeners, and farmers to create and maintain bio-intensive, sustainable agricultural practices and growing spaces that produce nutrient-dense food for family consumption.

Agricultural Volunteers work with lead farmers, NGOs, community-based organizations, schools, and key community members to promote a variety of sustainable agricultural practices, including bio-intensive gardens and agroforestry. To promote healthy nutrition, Volunteers work with household decision makers (like mothers) to conduct nutrition trainings and cooking demonstrations to encourage both the production and consumption of nutrient-dense foods.

Education

The Ministry of Education has recognized the importance of English in developing an international workforce—for continued education, medicine, technology, tourism, and beyond. In light of the teacher’s important role in enriching student learning and the need for additional educational resources to increase student achievement, the Peace Corps Education program in Madagascar aims to contribute to Malagasy education national priorities by ensuring overall improvement of education in Madagascar.

We’ve matched the effort of the Ministry of Education by establishing a TEFL certification for our educators. TEFL Volunteers in Madagascar have the opportunity to participate in the Peace Corps TEFL Certificate program, an externally validated credential based on 120 hours of training and two years of supervised teaching experience. As English Educators, our Volunteers’ primary assignment is to teach at a lycée (high school) and/or at a collège (middle school), sharing techniques and building skills among our colleague teachers, and create extracurricular activities that will strengthen students’ understanding of, and future roles in, the community.

In addition, the program provides ongoing professional development for Malagasy teachers who collaborate with Peace Corps Volunteers by offering them the opportunity to earn a Peace Corps Certificate in Classroom Practice (CICP). This certificate enhances collaboration between Peace Corps Volunteers and their teacher counterparts and gives Malagasy teachers an opportunity to reinforce and expand their teaching skills. It also provides an incentive for Malagasy teachers to take the initiative for their own professional development. It is a continuous process to promote English teachers’ teaching skills, master knowledge, and develop new proficiencies. This, in turn, helps to improve students’ learning and increase their success.

Health

Community Health Advisors are tackling some of the most fundamental public health challenges in the world. Stationed at local clinics and partnered with local community health workers, we’re targeting the causes of stunting, waterborne illnesses, malaria mortality, unsafe drinking water, and the many diseases faced by families in Madagascar. We create care groups to train caregivers and mobilize community leaders, health workers, and partners to prevent disease, working alongside local health promoters in the process.