Research
Problematics of Land Ownership and Rural Development in Madagascar: Anthropo-Legal Dimensions to Land-Environment Relationships
ue to its insularity, Madagascar possesses a wealth in heritage and in natural resources that explained themselves by a high rate of endemic biodiversity. Such an observation, related by several works on Madagascar, translates indeed the disposal of a large biologic diversity (RAZAFIARIJAONA, 2007). Wild species related to cultivated plants make up a genetic potential that can be used to develop and diversify the production of staple foods and that of other industrial plantations, and as such insure regional and national food security. In fact, for Madagascar, food plant species such as wild rices, sorghum, grapevine, tubers, fruit plants, spices, or commercial plants (vanilla and coffee) have been identified.Besides, other species such as fiber plants, tropical noble woods, medicinal plants, or aromatic plants of which plant genetic resource preservation would allow opportunities of high value-added transactions by agribusiness operations.
From Ecobiological Heritage to Local Ecodevelopment
I. Introduction ccess right and profit sharing issues regarding plant genetic resources rely on the farmers’ and other users’ rights particularly for species used for food, medicinal and common usage purposes such as wood for energy, for timber or for art work. However the exercise of access rights as much for farmers as for other users is strongly linked to land constraints. Indeed, the terms of management transfer and that of land ownership transfer may be articulated with those related to certain procedures enacted by the estate law respectively by concession, long term lease, operating license, or land Endowment to local communities with transfer fees or for free to the operators.
