(Ecofin Agency) - Nearly 1,500 farmers could lose lands they have been occupying for close to 50 years in Soavinandriana Itasy, in the Central part of Madagascar. Indeed the farmers, were ordered by the court to quit their properties which span over an area of 569ha that a former minister claims his.

“Before 1970, these lands belonged to colonists but locals started occupying and using them progressively. Those now claiming ownership of the lands appeared just last year. If the court’s ruling is passed, it would be the end of a hundred households, about 1,000 people who do nothing else but farm on these lands,” Pierre Marcel Ramilijaona, representative of the farmers of Soavinandriana, told News Mada.

Powerless against the court’s decision, the concerned populations now turn toward the government for help.