![\"\"](\"https:\/\/adra.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Voahangy-a-Woman-of-Change-2-1024x682.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nVoahangy left school at a young age because she could not afford to continue, and she struggled to find steady work. \u201cTo earn a little money, I carried people\u2019s goods on my head, walking 5 to 10 km to Anjoma Commune,\u201d she said. \u201cI also tried small businesses, but even then, it was hard to find enough food each day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2015, the ASOTRY project, funded by USAID and implemented by ADRA, began working in her village. Motivated to learn new skills, Voahangy joined the project as a lead mother in its health program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter the training, my role was to share what I learned with other mothers, especially about nutrition and hygiene,\u201d she explained. \u201cThey appreciated the support. Some even said that without this advice, their children might not have survived.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a farmer, Voahangy also took initiative. She joined with 17 other farmers to form a Farmer Field School group called \u201cFFS Miray Hina,\u201d and she was elected president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/adra.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Voahangy-a-Woman-of-Change-1-1024x559.jpeg\")
\u201cWe learned new farming and livestock techniques through the FFS,\u201d Voahangy said. \u201cBefore the ASOTRY Project, we used traditional methods. For example, with 5 kg of peanut seeds, I harvested only 30 kapoaka (cans), even with chemical fertilizers. Now, by using improved methods like composting, I can harvest up to 120 kapoaka. My rice production has also increased\u2014from one ton to more than three tons, even on a small field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her group, FFS Miray Hina, later grew into a Farmer Business Association (FBA), with Voahangy again elected as president. \u201cBeing part of the FBA has brought many benefits,\u201d she explained. \u201cWe took part in the FIER MADA 2018 national fair in the capital, Antananarivo, which helped us connect with larger markets. The project also gave us a phone and trained us to use Facebook to promote our products. Now, even though we live in a remote area, we can access market information more easily.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to farming, Voahangy also runs a poultry business. \u201cAt first, people were afraid of raising chickens because of disease risks,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter the training, I became a Community Livestock Worker. I help care for animal health, including vaccinating and deworming chickens, and I support other farmers in applying improved techniques. By using these skills, I now have 250 chickens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Voahangy is also committed to supporting her community. She leads a Village Savings and Loans (VSL) group, which helps members save and invest in their businesses. \u201cAs president of our VSL, I use my savings to buy quality seeds for farming,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alongside her many roles\u2014lead mother, farmer leader, cooperative president, livestock worker, and VSL leader\u2014Voahangy is also a certified ASOTRY literacy teacher. Step by step, her involvement in the project has improved her family\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In early 2017, she began collecting clay bricks to build a new home. Construction started in November 2017 once all materials were ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThanks to what we gained from the ASOTRY Project, my husband and I were able to build our home,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen the community heard about it, 120 people volunteered to help carry bricks as a sign of support. I was so touched by their enthusiasm. In less than a month, the house was completed\u2014something we had never seen before in the village.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Voahangy now hopes to build a warehouse to store her crops in the near future.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWenn ich meiner Geschichte einen Titel geben m\u00fcsste, w\u00fcrde ich sagen \u2018ASOTRY ver\u00e4ndert Leben\u201d\", sagt Ravoahanginirina Marie Claudine, 31, eine verheiratete Mutter von drei Kindern.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":41629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[785,42,615,44,589,819,829],"tags":[869,1026,500,1020],"class_list":["post-41628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-agriculture","category-blog","category-economic-growth","category-livelihoods","category-madagascar","category-voices","tag-adra-international-project","tag-asotry-project","tag-usaid","tag-womens-empowerment"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41628"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47853,"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41628\/revisions\/47853"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adra.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}