This project is born in collaboration between TERREDELSUD and the MAGIS (Movement and Action of the Italian Jesuits for the Development). The objective is that to contribute to the improvement of the conditions of life of the families that reside in the communities object of the intervention, because can live a satisfactory qualitatively and dignified life that realize her to the manifold dimensions inside the reality of their natural environment and that allow they to reduce in meaningful way the exodus of the young people from the countries. 

Whoever would like to have more information or to contribute in any way can write to nelmondo@terredelsud.org and receive all the necessary information.

Geography and politics   

Democratic republic of Madagascar  

Repoblika Demokratika Malagasy   

Republique de Madagascar  

Surface: 587,196 Km²
Inhabitants: 15,983,000 (respects 2001) 
Density: 27 inhabitants/Km²

Form of government: Presidential republic 
Capital: Antananarivo (876,000 inhabitants.) 
Other cities: Toamasina 90,000 inhabitants, Mahajanga 80,000 inhabitants. 
Ethnic groups: Malagasy 99% (of which Merina 26%, Betsimisaraka 15%, Betsileo 12%, Tsimihety 7%, Sakalava 6%, Antandroy 5%) 

Bordering Countries: - 

Principal mountains: Maromokotro 2876 m 
Principal rivers: Mangoky 550 Km, Betsiboka 520 Km 
Principal lakes: Farihy AlaotraIsole 
Principal islands: Madagascar 586,500 Km², Nosy Be 293 Km²
Climate: Tropical 

Language: Malagasy, French (both official) 
Religion: Animist 52%, Catholic 23%, Protestant 18%, Moslem 7% 
Coin: Malagasy Franc 

The territory is characterized by a rural area which extends for 16,000 hectares, supplied by the Government near the village of Andonaka (140 Km from Fianarantosoa). 

TITLE: 
Return to the earth "urban exodus" 

Description of the Initiative: 

The plan, in practical terms, foresees the settlement of around 600 families of labourers living in utter poverty (for a total of 4,600 people) in a rural area of 16,000 hectares supplied by the Government near the village of Andonaka (140 Km from Fianarantosoa) where they can restart a more dignified life and become farmers. 
Initially, the plan foresees the transfer of the head of the family in order to construct houses and the set up agriculture, and the family rejoining them as soon as possible. During these months of hard work, the project guarantees not only food and lodgings, but also the construction materials and the tools and seeds necessary for the cultivation. 
The project, started in November 2000 with the first experimental group of 14 families, reached its first aim on 1 July, 2002: 108 people entered into their new houses! 
The first group had the assignment of cultivating as much earth as necessary to be able to produce enough crops to feed the second group and so on for the others, which was a very important form of mutual help in this first phase of carrying out the project. Contemporarily, wells were built for water. 
In January 2001 the second group of 16 families (also 140 people) began to be involved in the project and they have also recently entered their new houses. 
Up until today (October 2003), the first group is at the third level and next year will reach their long-awaited autonomy. The second and third groups are at the second level, while the fourth is at level one. The fourth group, which is very numerous, has substituted the first one in terms of boarding, and every day 1,200 mouths must be fed: just considering rice, they consume around 12 tons every month. 
Parallel to the construction of the houses and the settling of the families, the project foresees the opening of schools. A first school for 250 pupils was opened mid-September and a second is about to be inaugurated. 

General aim of the Project: 

The conversion of labourers into farmers. 
Helping the poor build their own life, offering them the possibility of land to cultivate, is the ambitious aim that brother Domenico Fazio, a Jesuit, has been pursuing for some years, among many enormous difficulties, in the African island of Madagascar. 
To understand the value of this initiative, we must remember the situation of poverty in which this nation has been living for years: its economy has reached rock-bottom, a situation made worse by the recent bloody civil war that has also destroyed what little there was which still worked, causing millions of people to live in hunger and desperation. 
In recent years, in such a situation, a lot of people have abandoned their land, which by then produced few crops, in order to move to the cities with the hope of at least surviving, but the result has been a bitter experience. In this way, thousands of families have found themselves abandoned, without a future, with that minimum amount of hope that they had swept away by the war.
Among the cities of Madagascar, Fianarantsoa is among the most populated. Here, poverty and degradation are the daily norm for thousands of desperate people. Brother Domenico Fazio's idea was to organize a real exodus of these families from the desperation of the city to a return to the country, allowing them to produce at least the minimum quantity of well-being necessary in order to be able to hope for a better future.
The beginnings have certainly been hard and there is still a long way to go. However, despite all the difficulties, it can be said that the project has started in a correct way.