{"id":1379,"date":"2025-10-21T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/?p=1379"},"modified":"2025-10-24T19:15:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T19:15:53","slug":"scientists-are-testing-a-surprising-approach-to-fighting-hunger-in-one-of-the-poorest-places-on-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/21\/scientists-are-testing-a-surprising-approach-to-fighting-hunger-in-one-of-the-poorest-places-on-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists are testing a surprising approach to fighting hunger in one of the poorest places on Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Fishermen

\n\tOn a sunny morning in September, fishermen sail to shore in Ambolimailaky, a village along the coast of southwestern Madagascar.\ufeff | Garth Cripps for Vox\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tsindrio eto<\/a> raha te hamaky ity lahatsoratra ity amin\u2019ny teny Malagasy.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

BAY OF RANOBE, Madagascar \u2014 The coral reef itself was exquisite. Growing about 3 miles offshore in 50 feet of water, it was a rugged terrain of pinks, blues, and oranges, set against a backdrop of deep blue. The coral pieces, each a colony of living animals, took on a range of unusual forms, from cake platters and pencil shavings to antlers and brains.<\/p>\n

But there was one obvious thing missing: fish. Like a city without people, the reef was mostly empty \u2014 not only of fish, but also of crabs, eels, and other typical marine life on a coral reef. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It was a sunny morning in September, and I was diving on a coral reef in southwest Madagascar, an island nation that sits east of continental Africa. And like many reefs in the region and across much of the world<\/a>, it\u2019s on the verge of collapse. Overfishing has emptied the ocean here of fish, which over time will allow algae to take over and outcompete the corals. The increasing intensity of marine heat waves and cyclones, along with inland deforestation, also threatens the country\u2019s reefs, which are among the most biologically diverse in the world. <\/p>\n

This is a major problem for people along the coast of southwest Madagascar. Their livelihood depends on fishing \u2014 catching marine critters is an essential, and often the only, source of food and income \u2014 yet as the reef collapses, so does the fishery. The reef is where fish sleep, eat, and hide from predators, and without it, they struggle to survive. It\u2019s a complicated situation: The health and well-being of people along the coast depends on fishing, yet too much fishing is a key reason why the reef, and the fishery it supports, is in decline. <\/p>\n

\n

This story is part of a series<\/h2>\n

Over the next few weeks, Vox is publishing a three-part series on conservation in Madagascar<\/a>, supported by the BAND Foundation<\/a>. This is part one. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This tension between human and wildlife survival is not unique to the coasts of southwest Madagascar. The island, home to about 33 million<\/a> people, is among the poorest of poor nations, with some 80 percent of its population<\/a> living on less than the equivalent of $2.15 a day. People often have no choice but to depend directly on ecosystems to meet their basic needs.<\/p>\n

The government, meanwhile, has failed to provide even the most basic services like reliable electricity<\/a> and water<\/a>, let alone a pathway out of poverty and dependency on exploitation. That failure fueled weeks of youth-led protests<\/a> this fall in Madagascar, where the median age is around 20<\/a>. In response, Parliament impeached<\/a> the president on October 14 and the military seized control<\/a> of the government. What that power shift means for Madagascar, and for a generation demanding change, remains unclear.<\/p>\n

\"Fishermen\"An<\/p>\n

Under the sheer weight of human need, it\u2019s no surprise, then, that many of the country\u2019s iconic ecosystems are failing, too. Research suggests<\/a> that since the turn of the century the country has lost as much as half of its live coral cover, and a similar extent of native forest. Nearly every species of lemur, a type of animal that you can only find in Madagascar, is now threatened with extinction<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The government and nonprofit groups have spent decades \u2014 and hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid \u2014 trying to address these challenges, often relying on traditional environmental approaches, like setting up reserves that restrict fishing. But what Madagascar shows is that conservation projects don\u2019t usually work when they make it harder for desperately poor people to make a living. That may seem obvious, but it\u2019s one reason why many environmental projects have failed in the world\u2019s biodiversity hotspots, which are commonly found in poor nations. <\/p>\n

Places like Madagascar underscore the need for a different conservation approach \u2014 one that truly centers people, and what they need to live healthy and fulfilling lives. That\u2019s what ultimately brought me to the Bay of Ranobe, where I spent a week in September. Guided by fishers and a team of international researchers, a small organization is trying to restore the fishery and the food it provides, without actually restricting fishing. The goal of the project is to help people. Conservation is just a byproduct. <\/p>\n

The ocean was calm and flecked with sails when I arrived one morning at the beach in Ambolimailaky, a fishing village in the Bay of Ranobe. The sails \u2014 often made of discarded rice bags stitched together \u2014 propelled fishermen to shore in wooden canoes known as pirogues.<\/p>\n