Posted on June, 17 2019

Njara is a farmer. With his wife and their six children, this 49-year-old father decided to become a geranium oil producer four years ago. "I did not have a job before. I only cultivated rice to feed my wife and my six children. Culture that barely covered our monthly rice ration", he recalls with a tight throat. More than an activity to diversify his daily income of rice farmer, Madagascar bourdon geranium oil is now his main activity. "Now I can support my family, and I can afford to carry out my projects", he says with a smile.
 
Njara and his family live in Iavomanitra, in the Fandriana district of east-central Madagascar. His community manages forests and natural resources in this part of the Fandriana Vondrozo Midongy forest corridor. Today, Njara and his peers sell their production at 500,000 Ariary (119 euros) per liter. And this is nothing to say, with a production of 180 kg of oil per year, their yield amounts to 9,000,000 Ariary (2150 euros).
 
All producers are gathered in a cooperative called "Maintsomanitra of Iavomanitra" (green and perfumed in English). "Basically, it was a support for local communities to diversify their agricultural sources of income. And now, supply is struggling to keep pace with demand, so the result is fruitful", says Apollinaire Razafimahatratra from WWF.
 
2015 was the launch year for this income generating activity in the Fandriana Vondrozo Midongy forest corridor (COFAV). The implementation of this production was in close collaboration with a private company Aromania which provided seedlings and gave practical training sessions to producers.