Posted on July, 12 2010

My name is Ezoendraza from Bekinanga and I am 43 years old. I am a Mahafaly from the royal Andriambonarivo clan.  I have 12 kids, six boys and six girls. They are between 11 years and one week old. I have two wives to whom I am married according to our traditions. My father built this little hamlet in 1950. I have been living in it all of my life.  

Most people in my village belong to noble and royal families. Behind our village is the Rehindy sacred forest where the spirits live and our noble ancestors lie.   

I am a cattle breeder by profession. But besides that, I do many other things to make sure my family has all they need. I am a farmer also and a tax collector and a police officer. I am municipal secretary and the secretary of the forest managers association of Bekinanga. I do all of those things because I am really dynamic and I went to school.

My father was a cattle breeder, and so was his father before him. Cattle diseases are my biggest problems. But so is the management of pastures. When my father was young there were only two types of diseases. There was no famine among the cattle either. In 2009 our animals had to experience their first famine. Before that, only humans suffered from it.

The three seasons have changed a lot. The dry season is eight instead of five months long.

In the old days, the forest was thick and without any cleared areas. The people didn’t cultivate much; a small lot of land was enough. No one sold zebus, just a couple of goats here and there to buy rice. When people started to grow maize in 1975, they started to clear the forest. There were many lemurs, tortoises and guinea fowls in the forest.

I love the forest. It lives and it’s generous: for house construction and cooking wood. The animals are in direct relationship with God. He hears their complaints and gives rain where there are forests and animals.
But because there was not enough rain we didn’t have enough to eat. So we had to clear more land. And now that the forest is gone we get even less rain. And our cattle suffer from new diseases.

If the drought continues, my children won’t be able to be cattle breeders like me. They will have to become employees. They will have to study. I dream about my children being salesmen in case they won’t be successful in their studies.

Drought and the death of my cattle scare me so much, since I don’t know how to support my family otherwise. What’s a cattle breeder without a herd?