About The Job

Apply by :

January 1, 2026

Know By

March 1, 2026

Depart On

August 28, 2026

Duration

2 years, plus 3 months training

ELIGIBILITY: Must be at least 18 years of age. Must be a U.S. citizen.

Project description

The work of a Peace Corps Volunteer in Madagascar, working as a Food Security Promoter, is essential, collaborative, and growth promoting. You will work alongside Malagasy farmers, promoting soil improvement techniques, small gardens, and tree growing. Your work will support community nutrition centers, where mothers bring their children to be measured and plotted on growth charts. You will work with these women to introduce nutrition information and how to use local foods to enrich their diets for growth and health promotion.

You and your counterparts will collaborate with community members to promote food security through agriculture-based income generation. Working with community members to develop their capacity to grow nutrient dense foods, and transform these foods into products for family consumption and for sale, will strengthen household economic security and resilience. The ability of families to break the generational cycle of malnutrition will allow their children to receive proper nutrition during their critical first 1,000 days, which will lay the foundation for their future ability to grow, learn, and succeed.

Madagascar’s economy depends on agriculture, and women, even more than men, farm and garden to produce food for their families, and to sell. Seasonal rainfall and a tropical climate allow for many types of food to grow, yet a large percentage of the population suffers from chronic malnutrition, unable to access nutrient rich foods on a daily basis. Challenges include inflation, lack of employment, poor roads, lack of access to quality seeds, lack of access to water, poor soil quality, cyclones, floods, and limited food availability in local markets.

To Address These Challenges, You Will Work With Motivated Community Partners Including Local Agricultural Associations, Women’s Groups, Secondary Schools, And Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs). Your Local Supervisor Will Likely Be The Mayor Of The Community, And You Will Do Your Work In Collaboration With Local Counterparts. You And Your Counterparts Will Use a Participatory Approach To Assess Local Knowledge, Resources And Needs, And To Identify The Most Appropriate Activities To Address Local Food Security Challenges. These Activities May Include

• Promoting weather-resilient/bio-intensive gardening techniques.
• Co-teaching food transformation and preservation techniques to increase income earned from harvested crops
• Organizing cooking demonstrations and trainings on nutrition and diversified diets to improve infant and child health
• Planting community and school gardens
• Creating local seed banks for farmers to contribute and receive quality seeds
• Co-teaching composting and other soil quality improvement techniques
  
  

Peace Corps is committed to addressing environmental challenges, and you will support the Malagasy government’s promotion of sustainable farming practices as part of their efforts to achieve national food security, focusing on methods that increase productivity and strengthen environmental adaptation and resilience.

In addition to your primary work, you may also work on secondary projects that meet community needs, such as an English club, youth leadership clubs, or malaria prevention activities.

Required Skills

Qualified candidates will have an expressed interest in working in agriculture and one or more of the following criteria:

• Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in any field
  
  

OR

• 5 years' professional work experience