SEED Madagascar

Project Mahampy is working to improve the sustainability of mahampy reed weaving as a traditional women’s livelihood activity in southeast Madagascar. 

In southeast Madagascar livelihood opportunities are extremely limited, particularly for women who, due to deeply entrenched cultural expectations, are restricted from accessing more lucrative livelihoods, such as lobster fishing, traditionally dominated by men. Of the few opportunities available, mahampy reed weaving enables women to provide a small but vital income for their households. 

In rural Madagascar mahampy products are widely-used, in particular mahampy mats that are of high social and cultural importance, present at funerals, weddings, and births. Traditionally working independently and with low supplier power, weavers currently struggle with inconsistent sales, low return on investment and poor market access, unable to provide enough income to support themselves and their daily household expenses. 

Inaddition, the source of the reedbeds, the mahampy wetlands, are severely understudied. Fire, land degradation, and unregulated harvesting of the reeds threatens both the existence of a variety of threatened species and ecosystem services provided by the wetlands, and subsequently the future of mahampy weaving as a women’s livelihood activity.

Weaving is a labour-intensive activity; a single mat takes around two days to make and yet sells for as little as 5,000 MGA (£1.02).

Phase 1

Since 2019, Project Mahampy has worked to strengthen mahampy weaving as a livelihood activity for over 160 weavers in the rural community of Sainte Luce. During Phase I, SEED conducted socioeconomic and market-based research to gain a contextualised understanding of the cultural and social factors associated with mahampy weaving. The establishment of the Mahampy Weavers’ Cooperative in Sainte Luce created a network of weavers that improved access to resources and increased the weavers’ supplier power when trading products with buyers. The Mahampy Weavers’ Workshop was constructed to provide weavers with a space to sell their products to local buyers and tourists, whilst capacity building sessions improved members’ skills in technical weaving, finance, and business.

To establish an ecological baseline of the mahampy reedbeds, SEED’s Conservation and Research Program (SCRP) collected data on the characteristics and biological importance of the wetlands, with findings documented in a final technical report. Identified by the weavers as a risk to the sustainability of the mahampy reedbeds, the cooperative initiated their own research in June 2021, investigating the effect of different harvesting techniques and fire on the regrowth of the mahampy reeds. 

 

During a time of heightened vulnerability and uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic, Project Mahampy adapted to include a six month MHM pilot that provided education to the cooperative on menstrual hygiene and health.

Phase II (2022-2025)

Beginning in September 2022, Project Mahampy: Phase II will continue to play a crucial role in securing the sustainability of mahampy reed weaving as a traditional livelihood for the mahampy weavers of Sainte Luce. 

Building upon the success of the previous phase, Phase II seeks to maximise the sales potential of the Mahampy Weavers’ Workshop, improving the cooperative’s access to local and international markets. The current building will be extended to provide weavers with additional space to weave, store, and sell mahampy products. Phase II will also focus on improving the financial resilience of both the Mahampy Weavers’ Cooperative and its members, conducting financial education sessions and initiating the development of both a sustainable loan and saving scheme. 

The cooperative will also continue wetland research, gaining the skills and knowledge to lead on the development and implementation of a reedbed management strategy that will ensure the sustainability of mahampy weaving as a livelihood activity.

MHM Pilot

Learn about our menstrual hygiene management pilot project with the Mahampy cooperative

Sustainable Development Goals See how Mahampy and other SEED projects contribute towards the UN SDGs

Rural Livelihoods

Find out more about our programmes in southeast Madagascar

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