Development in the Southern of Madagascar. Lessons form 30 years of development projects[Le développement dans le Grand Sud malgache, Quelques enseignements de 30 ans de projets de développement]

Madagascar's deep south is characterized by a succession of sometimes closely spaced, even concomitant, crises linked to agro-climatic conditions (droughts, locust invasions) or to the political situation, such as post-electoral crises. They occur against a backdrop of weakening lineage structures and multiple institutional failures accumulated over several decades: under-equipment of infrastructure and public services, poor governance, deteriorating security situation leading to decapitalization. This context exacerbates the vulnerability of populations and is conducive to the onset of food crises, when situations change more or less abruptly. Despite numerous humanitarian and development projects over the past 30 years, these components of an ill-development equilibrium have not been overcome. Yet there is an abundance of literature, both academic and from project evaluations, which enables us to draw up an inventory of the causes of failures and successes. Capitalizing on these bibliographical resources is a major challenge for coordinating actions in southern Madagascar. The aim of this study is to draw the main lessons from this abundant literature. To this end, we have compiled and analyzed an impressive corpus of both academic and grey literature. Keyword searches of the main bibliographic databases available online were supplemented by the transmission of reports and documents by development players in southern Madagascar. A total of 220 references were archived, referenced, synthesized and analyzed. The study first presents the main lessons to be learned from 4 thematic entries, which play a key role in understanding the dynamics of development and development blockages in southern Madagascar: (i) water, (ii) agriculture, livestock and fisheries, (iii) environment and climate change, and (iv) food and nutritional security. Then, a cross-sectional analysis of the corpus shows that the socio-institutional entry point is a key factor in explaining the failure or success of development projects. More specifically, the study provides a basis for understanding the mechanisms underlying the "project logic" and the need to take into account the social dynamics of aid beneficiaries, particularly those relating to gender issues.