IFC invests $4 million to boost meat exports in Madagascar

The International Finance Corporation (IFC),, a member of the World Bank Group, is helping Bonne Viande de Madagascar—or BoViMa—build a modern feedlot and slaughterhouse that is expected to help create an export market for zebu beef and goat meat while creating jobs and opportunities in one of the world’s poorest countries.

IFC is arranging $7 million in financing for BoViMa, including a $3.5 million IFC loan and another $3.5 million from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program’s Private Sector Window.

The World Bank is providing an additional $53 million to help fund an initiative that will train veterinarians, rehabilitate laboratories, and provide better animal care.

These improvements will allow Madagascar to issue internationally recognized animal health certificates, opening up the export market. Zebu meat will be shipped overseas through a modern port at Tolanaro that was partly funded by the World Bank.

IFC’s environmental and social advisory teams are also working closely with farmers, helping them merge traditional practices with modern, sustainable techniques to grow their herds and their incomes. IFC is helping BoViMa develop a livestock management system that will enable it to build a robust supply chain that includes smallholder herders and farmers.

“Our partnership with IFC is critical to help create the market for meat exports from Madagascar,” said Danil Ismael, CEO of BoViMa. “Through this project we are creating value for our partners, our farmers, and our country. Madagascar’s development must be led by the private sector.”

More than 80 percent of Madagascar’s population earns less than $2 a day—and agriculture is the dominant employment sector. The project is expected to help BoViMa create jobs and generate significant economic activities in one of the poorest regions of Madagascar. By establishing first modern slaughterhouse, it will help introduce best practices in health and safety standards.

“In Madagascar IFC is demonstrating our determination to create markets in fragile states, where agriculture provides livelihoods for most people,” said IFC CEO Philippe Le Houérou. “IFC identified what had to be done to create this market, deployed its own resources for a couple of years to build BoViMa’s capacities and make the project feasible, drew upon the World Bank’s knowledge, and worked with government officials to address gaps. Our partnership with BoViMa will help set the standard for the modernization of Madagascar’s farming and livestock sectors.”

Underinvestment and capacity constraints have weakened Madagascar’s livestock sector, causing the zebu cattle stock to dwindle to six million from 23 million in the 1980s. The BoViMa project is expected to increase Madagascar’s annual foreign exchange receipts from meat exports.