Biting the Bullet: Dealing with the Annual Hunger Gap in the Alaotra, Madagascar

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

High interet. Proper methodology. Good quality of writing. Clear and well presented .

Page 10 : promotion of SRI: a dream in Most places in Madagascar as it increase too much labor rerquirement and with not ehough watre control but what about SRA that hs been far mor successfull ; may be some lines on that ......many exemples from BV lac litterature on that ...

page 11 406 : I have many doubts about the fact that the goverment try to really promote a kind of green revolution... : Mays be trough the BV lac project but thje doubling of inputs prices in 2008 kills that effort ...may be be more caution about that statement !!

Attentyon chronic malnutririon in Madagascar YES but fery few indeed in the Alaotra lake area that remains a relatively rich area compared to others...In alaotra area the problem is more more on food quality (fruits and  proteins)  rather than in quantity  (rice is generally sufficient for most families !! ) however there is some families suffiering effectively from hungergap in particvular those with poor or very limited access to irrigated rice in existing PC and relying mainly on upland agriculture like around Imerimandrosso area  and western Alaotra far from PC...

YOu could have used a lillte bit more results from local studies to sustain that idea....Your biliography is global and general but do not use that much local results... (from ROR, or BVlac project and asscociatedc resercrch that could have highlight some ideas (about SRA/SRI for instance !! )

I did not qee any conclusion  ????. if not it lacks !!!

I have the impoession that the conclusion begin line 432 page   11 : is it missing by mistake  ???

A conclusion is however necessary !!

so at the end is there any future for conservation and in particular for marsh areas with the lemurian ???? can you conclude on that  ? what is the trend ? what has been the impat of 10 years of BVlac project development on local conservation and farmers' local perception ???

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 1,

We would like to thank you for your helpful comments that have allowed us to improve our piece. Below you will find our detailed responses to each of your comments. We appreciate the time you have dedicated to this work, and we hope with these modifications it is up to publishing standard.

COMMENT 1: Page 10 : promotion of SRI: a dream in Most places in Madagascar as it increase too much labor rerquirement and with not ehough watre control but what about SRA that hs been far mor successfull ; may be some lines on that ......many exemples from BV lac litterature on that ...

RESPONSE 1: This is a good point, and we have changed the text as followed: L409 "This could also be achieved using conservation agriculture, composting, improved irrigation, and pest management [65, 66]. SAR (Improved Rice System or système de riziculture améliorée) has shown promising results in Madagascar, being far less labor intensive than SRI (System of Rice Intensification), and allowing better water control [65]."

COMMENT 2: page 11 406 : I have many doubts about the fact that the goverment try to really promote a kind of green revolution... : Mays be trough the BV lac project but thje doubling of inputs prices in 2008 kills that effort ...may be be more caution about that statement !!

RESPONSE 2: We have modified this statement by deducing the emphasis put on the government's ambition to promote a green revolution, and also mentioning development projects that played an important role. The sentence now reads: L415 " From the 2000s, after two decades of economic liberalization and State disengagement including the privatization of agricultural funding,  development projects focusing on rain-fed farming and land management, such as BVlac and ROR [49, 65], as well as government policies aimed at intensifying farmers' crops through improved access to fertilizer, pesticides and seed varieties [67] were once again implemented."

We have also added a sentence on L426 directing readers to Penot et al. (2014)'s paper on the historical background of agricultural practices around Lake Alaotra.

COMMENT 3: Attentyon chronic malnutririon in Madagascar YES but fery few indeed in the Alaotra lake area that remains a relatively rich area compared to others...In alaotra area the problem is more more on food quality (fruits and  proteins)  rather than in quantity  (rice is generally sufficient for most families !! ) however there is some families suffiering effectively from hungergap in particvular those with poor or very limited access to irrigated rice in existing PC and relying mainly on upland agriculture like around Imerimandrosso area  and western Alaotra far from PC...

RESPONSE 3: We have added a reference (Borgerson et al. 2018) which underlines that the Alaotra is actually in line with national statistics. Hence, we have modified the sentence which reads now: L434 "Chronic malnutrition remains a major issue in the country [10], and Alaotra is in line with the national statistics (Borgerson et al. 2018).

COMMENT 4: YOu could have used a lillte bit more results from local studies to sustain that idea....Your biliography is global and general but do not use that much local results... (from ROR, or BVlac project and asscociatedc resercrch that could have highlight some ideas (about SRA/SRI for instance !! )

RESPONSE 4: We have added a number of references discussing local studies. We now mention the two projects BVlac and ROR on L415: " From the 2000s, after two decades of economic liberalization and State disengagement including the privatization of agricultural funding, development projects, focusing on rain-fed farming and land management, such as BVlac and ROR [49, 65]"

As well as going into further detail about SRI on L419: "SRI, developed in response to the issue of stagnating rice production, gained wide support since its development in Madagascar in the 1980s. However, although some research shows positive results regarding small-scale farming, the empirical evidence concerning SRI’s objective of increasing yields has been subject of much criticism and debate [66-70]."

Further, we discuss recent research on Conservation Agriculture on L430: "Regarding international development, in recent years, research on conservation agriculture in the Alaotra region has shown promising results to deal with climate variability and crop productivity [71-73], and will likely be increasingly adopted by farmers in the coming years."

COMMENT 5: I did not qee any conclusion  ????. if not it lacks !!! 

I have the impoession that the conclusion begin line 432 page   11 : is it missing by mistake  ??? A conclusion is however necessary !! so at the end is there any future for conservation and in particular for marsh areas with the lemurian ???? can you conclude on that  ? what is the trend ? what has been the impat of 10 years of BVlac project development on local conservation and farmers' local perception ???

RESPONSE 5: The paragraph from L432 has been made into a conclusion, and we have incorporated elements relating to the future of conservation, marsh areas, and its biodiversity. It now reads L455 "This study highlights the importance of access to various capital stocks in relation to the hunger gap, and the degree of impact that the hunger gap has on communities. Farmers currently in vulnerable financial positions will likely be unable to access solutions such as improved agricultural technologies or microcredits, implying that without active governmental intervention, a substantial share of these communities will remain trapped in a downward spiral of poverty. Over the last years, the region has seen fast environmental degradation, affecting local biodiversity. The conservation-development balance is currently in disequilibrium, and with increasing changes taking place in the Alaotra region, it is likely that marsh areas will continue to shrink. It is crucial not to let the impacts of the hunger gap exacerbate and become unendurable for farmers, as those who have so far been unable to adapt to changes will only become more vulnerable to the effects of seasonality and food insecurity, further depleting natural resources out of necessity. Their current coping strategies may not remain effective in sustaining them in an environmental of increasing degradation due to overexploitation and climate change. Thus, it is crucial that measures and policies pave the way to support rural resource users in developing capacities enabling them to adapt and protect the natural resources upon which they depend."

Reviewer 2 Report

Review on sustainability-465204 "Biting the bullet: Dealing with the annual hunger gap in the Alaotra, Madagascar" by Natasha Stoudmann et al.

An analysis on the perceptions, patterns and controlling factors of the seasonal period during which food provision is in shortage - termed a hunger gap - was attempted in this paper based on synthesis data collected with workshops, interviews, and questionnaires from the Alaotra region of Madagascar. The arguments were logically organized, and the text was well written. There are some issues remaining but they are minor. I'll list these issues below. Overall, the paper can be accepted after careful revisions.

Specific comments:

- Abstract: As a core concept of the paper, the hunger gap should be defined or briefly explained in the abstract, so that the readers of the abstract but not the whole paper understand easily.

- L19 this period: What period?

- L26 agarian structures: What do you mean? It is better to explicitly list one or two of such structures here.

- L26-27 We end by ...: Rephrase to present your recommendations with one or two statements.

- L43-44 there is ...­ between: This statement seems out of context. Are you suggesting that the existence of the hunger gap is good for biodiversity?

- L48-49 (maitso ahitra in Malagasy): can be deleted.

- L63 has: have.

- L75-104 is largely unnecessary to appear in the introduction. It can be moved to methods or discussions section if necessary. 

- L76 producing areas: production areas

- L88 fishing: fishery

- Materials and methods: (1) A map needs to be provided to assist method description; (2) A diagram is also needed to illustrate your methodology, in particular, the logical relationships between the phases of the field work.

- L150 section A2: Appendix 2?

-

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 2,

We would like to thank you for your helpful comments that have allowed us to improve our piece. Below you will find our detailed responses to each of your comments. We appreciate the time you have dedicated to this work, and we hope with these modifications it is up to publishing standard.

COMMENT 1: Abstract: As a core concept of the paper, the hunger gap should be defined or briefly explained in the abstract, so that the readers of the abstract but not the whole paper understand easily.

RESPONSE 1: We have added its definition in the abstract as suggested. L16 now reads: " The hunger gap (annual period of hardship when most crops are growing but not yet ready for harvest) remains a reality…".

COMMENT 2: L19 this period: What period?

RESPONSE 2: we have modified 'this period' to 'the impacts of the hunger gap' to make it clearer. It now reads: L19 " …farmers in Madagascar are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of the hunger gap,…"

COMMENT 3: L26 agarian structures: What do you mean? It is better to explicitly list one or two of such structures here.

RESPONSE 3: we now give the examples of land tenure and size of parcels to illustrate the concept of agrarian structures, on L27.

COMMENT 4: L26-27 We end by ...: Rephrase to present your recommendations with one or two statements.

RESPONSE 4: The sentence now reads: L28 " We end by discussing various potential past and present responses aimed at improving the resilience of farmers of the Alaotra region, including improved accessibility, agricultural intensification, and conservation agriculture."

COMMENT 5: L43-44 there is ...­ between: This statement seems out of context. Are you suggesting that the existence of the hunger gap is good for biodiversity?

RESPONSE 5: We have modified the sentence to make it clearer. What the cited study showed was not that food insecurity is in any way good for biodiversity, but rather that because of this coexistence of biodiversity hotspots and food insecurity, biodiversity is at risk of being degraded or overexploited. The sentence now reads: L46 "In many tropical regions, there is an overlap between poor smallholder farming communities and high biodiversity, putting many species at risk"

COMMENT 6: L48-49 (maitso ahitra in Malagasy): can be deleted.

RESPONSE 6: has been deleted.

COMMENT 7: L63 has: have.

RESPONSE 7: has been changed.

COMMENT 8 : L75-104 is largely unnecessary to appear in the introduction. It can be moved to methods or discussions section if necessary. 

RESPONSE 8: We have moved this section to the Methods.

COMMENT 9: L76 producing areas: production areas

RESPONSE 9: has been corrected.

COMMENT 10: L88 fishing: fishery

RESPONSE 10: has been corrected.

COMMENT 11: Materials and methods: (1) A map needs to be provided to assist method description; (2) A diagram is also needed to illustrate your methodology, in particular, the logical relationships between the phases of the field work.

RESPONSE 11: we have added both a map (p. 4) and a diagram (p. 3).

COMMENT 12: L150 section A2: Appendix 2?

RESPONSE 12: has been modified.