Ndramisolo is a retired teacher and rural entrepreneur. Since 1995, he has developed a small family farm and has been investing in cocoa plantation, a crop growing activity that he fully understands thanks to his on-the-ground experience.
As well as growing cocoa, he breeds zebus, goats, sheep and chickens, which allows him to diversify his sources of income. His activities are located in Befitina in the Ambanja district in northern Madagascar and contributes to local food security while generating regular income for his family.
Thanks to his crop and cattle farming activities he can provide for his household and cover utilities such as the electricity supplied by Nanoé, which he has been the very first client of since February 2018. His household is connected to a nano-grid shared with 4 other neighbouring clients.
What are your areas of interest ?
My interests are mainly in sustainable farming and energy autonomy – hence my commitment as an early-adopter of Nanoé’s solution since 2018 – and rural development. I am also interested in ways to improve daily life in rural areas and local solutions, such as electricity access or entrepreneurial farming.
Why did you join the PowerPath project?
My household wished to take part in Nanoé’s PowerPath project because access to reliable and affordable electricity is essential to improve our living standards and develop our economic activities. Before Nanoé, we were facing many difficulties; lack of lighting at night and dependency on expensive and ineffective energy sources like oil lamps or batteries.
As a farmer and breeder, electricity helps us to better organise our work; cell phone charging, building lighting and basic appliance usage. Electricity also contributes to our children’s education as they can now study at night.
By participating in the project, we were looking to resolve a problem and improve our living conditions while supporting an autonomous and sustainable local development model. Nanoé brought a tangible solution to us. It is adapted to our needs and it helps us to plan for our future.
How do you hope you will benefit from participating in the project and its outcomes?
By joining this project, I hope that my household and farming activity can benefit from sustainable access to electricity, which would enable the improvement of our daily life and reinforce our independence.
Thanks to electricity, I can better organise my work, use simple equipment and offer better living conditions to my family.
I also wish that this project brings more stability to my income, by reducing my energy spending and facilitating the development of my activities like product transformation or preservation.
Lastly, I envision this project as an opportunity to learn and get inspiration from other experiences, to continue to grow my farm and share my experience with other families in my community.