Country Context
Administrative/Reporting Units
Boundary Issues
Provinces (6) were theoretically eliminated as of about 2008, but they retain some admin structures/functions. Note: It was decided that Provinces would stay as the Admin 1 unit throughout time series & FEWS NET Shapefiles.
Districts (admin3) (currently 119) are the most frequent level of stat reporting.
New region boundaries created in 2004. They did not move between provinces, and almost all previous districts retained their shapes (exception: Manandriana which split from Ambositra)
Ag stats did not start reporting for Manandriana in same year. Beans starts in 1997, most other crops start in 2002 except Maize and Rice which starts in 2001. This is reflected in the FNIDs, as Manandirana & Ambositra start using 2004 FNIDs depending on the year when commodity started reporting data for Manandriana (year when split occurred in reporting units).
Some ag stat reporting in 1990s and eary 2000s combined production from Antananarivo Atsimondrano and Antananarivo Avaradrano, into Antananarivo Avaratra. It appears that Antananarivo Avaratra is not a true district. Thus, a decision was taken to upload it as a crop region which is equivalent to an aggreagate of Antananarivo Atsimondrano & ntananarivo Avaradrano.
Pre 2004 regions based on map from 1995 on maps tab. Assumed there were no region changes beyond the changes in 2004.
Regions may not have been official admin units prior to 2004. For simplicity, it was decided that Provinces would be Admin1, regions would be Admin2, and districts (formerly known as fivondronana would be Admin3).
Fianarantsoa II split into Lalangina, Isandra, and Vohibato in 2009. Betafo also split into Betafo and Mandoto. However, these splits are not reflected in current data.
Crop Data
Context
Many French/Malagasy variant names. Can't determine "official" name.
Names used here are generally drawn from the Agricultural Annal series.
Seasons
Main rainy season: October-April
Dry season: May-Sept
There are two, or three, over-lapping rice growing seasons (irrigated), but production is not reported by those seasons
Like other southern/eastern African countries, the second year in a two-year notation is the year of the main harvest (e.g. '2004-2005" represents 2004 plantings in Oct/Nov, and harvest in April 2005).
Notable missing data:
Most current year ag stats: 2011-2017
Almost all crops prior to 1990
Area estimates for many crops in 2002, 2003 and 2004
...
Last update: December 18, 2024
This page contains information about some of the data available in the FEWS NET Data Explorer (FDE) for Madagascar. This is not a comprehensive guide.
For information about using the filters and fields for specific domains in the FDE, see Choose a Data Domain.
Summary table
ISO 3166-1 codes | Alpha 2: MG, Alpha 3: MDG, Numeric: 450 |
---|---|
Administrative units | Province, Prefecture/region, District, Arrondissement Administratif |
Agricultural seasons | Main (November - April) |
Major crops | Rice, maize, root crops, beans |
Country Context
Statistical reporting units
Madagascar usually uses administrative units as their statistical reporting units.
Info |
---|
Administrative (admin) units are the geographical areas into which a country is divided. FEWS NET uses the following terminology: National boundary = admin 0, First sub-national division = admin 1 (e.g., states in the United States), Second sub-national division = admin 2 (e.g., counties in the United States), and so on. |
After Madagascar’s independence in 1960, the country’s new constitution of 1992 directed that administrative entities would be created by law, but did not specify what specific structures those should be. Since then, a number of different administrative hierarchies have been instituted, demolished, replaced, and recreated in various forms.
In more recent times, in 2004 and 2007, Madagascar eliminated its relatively long-standing (since 1959) first-level Admin 1 units, the Province, and elevated the former Admin 2-level units, the Region to Admin 1 status. As of 20101 the Province was re-instituted as the first-level administrative structure (Admin 1).
The current administrative hierarchy is2:
Admin 1: Province
Admin 2: Prefecture or Region
Admin 3: District
Admin 4: Arrondissement Administratif.
Each prefecture has between 2 and 13 districts, for a total of either 114 or 119, if Antananarivo’s six districts are counted as 1 (Antananarivo Renivohitra) or 6 (FEWS NET maps six districts in Antananarivo, I-VI). The names and hierarchical relationships of the districts are available in the FDE.
Most statistical data is presented at one of the first three Admin levels.
Crop Data
Explore our crop data.
View our documentation on using the Crop Domain.
For reasons discussed below, retrieved crop statistics for Madagascar are of un-even temporal and spatial coverage. They suffer from many gaps in the time-series, frequent shifts in the reporting unit-level, and an inconsistent process for compiling, archiving and distributing them.
Crop estimate data sources
There is no central database of crop statistics for Madagascar, nor for most other domain data of interest for food security purposes. Most annual statistics are, and have been, published in annual reports over the years. It also appears that in some years, no annual reports have been published for these datasets.
The best location to find publications which contain annual statistics for Madagascar is at the web site of the Institut National de la Statistique (INSTAT). The main menu displays a number of different choices, among which, the Publications et Statistiques selection is of most interest. Under that menu item, selecting the menu choice, Publications Sectorielles - Agriculture (Elevage, agriculture, pêche), will present a collection of publications, many going back more than 20 years, which contain data and/or information for the agricultural domain.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Elevage is another source of potentially important information about the history of the country’s food production, and especially the Annuaire des Statistiques Agricoles publication series, which unfortunately no longer exists. Monographies for a number of Admin 1 crop reporting units in the 2003 and 2004 period provide a consistent source of historic crop production information for the late 1990s period, but these reports were not followed up after that period. Note that this website is regularly out of service, so check back at a later time if you receive an error message when accessing it.
The defunct FAO CountryStat website was an important source for crop statistics data for the country, but that FAO initiative no longer functions.
Year and season definitions
Cropping year definition
Like other Southern Africa countries, the annual cropping year begins late in the Gregorian year and finishes early in the following year. An annual cropping year is generally referred to as beginning in November of one year and finishing in late April of the next year.
The annual cropping year is most often referred to using a two-year notation, for example, the 2022/2023 year. This may also be referred to as 2023, or an end-aligned year in the FEWS NET seasonal terminology.
Info |
---|
Example: 2023 refers to November 2022 to April 2023. |
Season definition
Main season: November 1 to April 30
Dry/winter season: Around May 1 to late September or October
Dominant crop production systems
Although the agricultural production systems in Madagascar may be evolving towards a distinct pattern of differentiation between commercially-oriented cropping and subsistence farming strategies, the crop statistics available for the country do not yet make such distinctions.
Crop statistics methodology
No information is currently available to describe the methodology used in-country for annual crop assessments.
Constitution de la Quatrième République de Madagascar, 2010
Per the Atlas du Troisieme Recensement General de la Population at de l’Habitation de Madagascar 2018.