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Madagascar

In Madagascar, The Democratization Of French Cheese

In one of the world's poorest countries, cheese is still a niche market. And yet, little by little, even the working class are starting to getting a taste.

Cheese is first and foremost a luxury product in Madagascar
Cheese is first and foremost a luxury product in Madagascar
Laure Verneau

ANTSIRABE — Sam Mimouni holds out his artisanal Fourme d'Ambert, a semi-hard, French blue cheese. "The more it stinks, the better it is," he jokes.

The gray rind, the visible mold, the melting texture: This is the perfect example of the Auvergne specialty, but without the official French designation of origin. There's a reason for that. Sam doesn't live in central France; he's in Madagascar, in the town of Antsirabe, 172 kilometers south of the capital, Antananarivo.

At Le Comptoir des Hautes Terres, his cheese store located on one of the city's main streets, the Frenchman has been making 25 different varieties of cheese for nearly 20 years.

"Here, we make the classic cheeses," he says, "And I also create some with typically Malagasy ingredients."

The rind is washed with local beer; the center is made of dried caviar, pink berries and wild pepper. Local flavors reinvent the dairy specialty.

It is not by chance that one of the largest former French colonies has such a savoir-faire, between imitation and emancipation. Antsirabe is located in the Vakinankaratra region, a dairy bastion in the center of the Grande Île (Big Island). Here, the cheese industry dates back to the colonial era, when Norwegian, Catholic and Protestant missions imported the first dairy cows, as well as their technical mastery, from pasteurization to maturation.

So who can dream of a local fondue when the first frost falls on the highlands?

Nowadays, while the dairies that produce the classic western cheese varieties are generally French, those in the countryside — which make up the majority — are run by Malagasy. The country produces 120 million liters of milk per year. This is an infinitesimal quantity compared to Brittany and its 5 billion liters per year. But it's enough for a cheese culture to exist and spread, as paradoxical as it may seem.

Madagascar is one of the five poorest nations in the world and 75% of its inhabitants live on less than $2 a day. Some 2,000 kilometers from Antsirabe, in the extreme south of the country, the population is suffering from a lack of water and is experiencing one of the worst famines in its history.

In this context, enjoying a well-made blue cheese or camembert is not a national food priority. Especially since a kilo of cheese from an artisanal dairy is sold for an average of 10 euros (roughly $12), according to figures from 2017. So who can dream of a local fondue when the first frost falls on the highlands?

"Here, cheese is first and foremost a luxury product, the consumption of which is gradually becoming more accessible," says Jérôme Bergon, who for six years has managed the Lactimad cheese factory, also based in Antsirabe.

Like Mimouni, Bergon has a mixed clientele, equal parts Vazahas (tourists or expatriates) and Malagasy from the capital with "good purchasing power." On the Big Island, there is no certification, except the certificate of consumability issued by the Ministry of Commerce, which gives way to wagering permits on the market.

"Brie is my favorite," says Domohina, an office worker who came to Lactimad to buy raclette and Vacherin for the weekend. "I give it to my children for a snack or breakfast, but not every day. It costs too much!"

Grated on a pizza or in pasta, food traditions are evolving with the supply.

"For a long time, it was difficult to sell cheeses other than semi-cooked cheeses with a uniform color and no roughness," says Mimouni. "But in recent years, the palate has become more complex and the clientele from Antananarivo is more inclined to try stronger specialties."

"Our customers are diverse, but I would say the vast majority are Malagasy," says Serge Randriamahefasoa, who runs the Maminiaina dairy on the edge of Antsirabe. "They regularly come to buy assortments for family celebrations, for example. These customers belong to the middle class, if that exists here at all."

This trained computer programmer turned to cheese 15 years ago when he took over the family business. Since then, he has been producing round cheeses coated in wax, like Saint Paulin or raclette, which are sold in all the country's supermarkets at 16,000 ariary (about $4.20) per 500 grams.

Other, even more affordable options do exist. In Antsirabe's bistros, you can find small cheeses made on the same day, unripened for 2,000 ariary (about $0.50). These are enjoyed as "tsaky-tsaky" ("snack" in Malagasy) with a glass of rum at the end of the day. Cheese may not yet be a popular product in Madagascar, but it is at last beginning to be more accessible to people with different sized incomes.

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FOCUS: Israel-Palestine War

Why The U.S. Lost Its Leverage In The Middle East — And May Never Get It Back

In the Israel-Hamas war, Qatar now plays the key role in negotiations, while the United States appears increasingly disengaged. Shifts in the region and beyond require that Washington move quickly or risk ceding influence to China and others for the long term.

Photograph of U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken  shaking hands with sraeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

November 30, 2023, Tel Aviv, Israel: U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Chuck Kennedy/U.S State/ZUMA
Sébastien Boussois

-Analysis-

PARIS — Upon assuming office in 2008, then-President Barack Obama declared that United States would gradually begin withdrawing from various conflict zones across the globe, initiating a complex process that has had a major impact on the international landscape ever since.

This started with the American departure from Iraq in 2010, and was followed by Donald Trump's presidency, during which the "Make America Great Again" policy redirected attention to America's domestic interests.

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The withdrawal trend resumed under Joe Biden, who ordered the exit of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in 2021. To maintain a foothold in all intricate regions to the east, America requires secure and stable partnerships. The recent struggle in addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict demonstrates that Washington increasingly relies on the allied Gulf states for any enduring influence.

Since the collapse of the Camp David Accords in 1999 during Bill Clinton's tenure, Washington has consistently supported Israel without pursuing renewed peace talks that could have led to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

While President Joe Biden's recent challenges in pushing for a Gaza ceasefire met with resistance from an unyielding Benjamin Netanyahu, they also stem from the United States' overall disengagement from the issue over the past two decades. Biden now is seeking to re-engage in the Israel-Palestine matter, yet it is Qatar that is the primary broker for significant negotiations such as the release of hostages in exchange for a ceasefire —a situation the United States lacks the leverage to enforce.

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