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Young Student in Madagascar is Inspired to Become an Entrepreneur

on  May 30, 2019

Narovantsoa, a 12-year-old boy, lives with his teacher, Yvonne, in the small town of Soamanandrariny, Madagascar. On average, households in Somanandrainy consist of six people, and many depend on an income of less than $1 per day. Although not ideal, these circumstances have not stopped Narovantsoa on his journey to his dream job — becoming an entrepreneur.Rise Against Hunger meals are served at Narovantsoa’s school by our impact partner, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). Before receiving Rise Against Hunger meals, Narovantsoa was regularly eating just one meal per day, usually consisting of rice or vegetables. Narovantsoa shares, “Now that I benefit from Rise Against Hunger meals, I eat lunch at school and no longer feel hungry during classes. Eating meals at school is also joyful because I can sit with my friends and talk about funny things while eating.”Yvonne, Narovantsoa’s teacher and caretaker, also serves as the school’s cafeteria manager and primary chef. She cooks the Rise Against Hunger meals for students each day and sometimes uses supplemental vegetables to create dumplings. She shares that most of the students in the school rely on the one Rise Against Hunger meal each day as they do not have food available at home. “I have noticed that the students have become more dynamic and alert in their classrooms and since eating these meals, most of the students have also gained 4.5 to 6.5 pounds,” said Yvonne. “Parents and guardians are noticing these changes, too, which motivates them to come to the school to help prepare the meals.”ADRA’s program officer in Madagascar, Miara, also notes huge changes in the school since receiving the Rise Against Hunger meals. Miara has also noticed improvements in the children’s ability to focus on schoolwork, exam scores have improved and attendance has gone up.Narovantsoa is now ranked fourth out of 41 students in his class; an accomplishment that Yvonne credits in part to receiving Rise Against Hunger meals at lunch. “When I grow up, I’d like to become an entrepreneur and own my own company,” said Narovantsoa. Providing Rise Against Hunger meals in schools can help take children like Narovantsoa one step closer to breaking the cycle of poverty. We rely completely on our volunteers to get involved and package our meals. Are you ready to schedule a Rise Against Hunger Experience event for you and your group? Visit our Host a Meal Packaging Event page to learn more!

About the Author

Maddie Laing is the PR and Communications Specialist on the Rise Against Hunger Marketing Team. Maddie manages communication between Rise Against Hunger and news outlets across the globe.

More Posts by Maddie Laing

Strength, Stability And Hope

The gift that filled Nelly’s table.

“We were yielding very little, and the crops could not sustain us the whole year,” Nelly remembers. As a mother of seven and a farmer with two decades of experience, the stress of inconsistent yields was all-consuming. A poor harvest not only strained her family financially, but also limited their own meals to just two a day. Their story reflects that of many in their fishing and farming village near a lake in the Karonga district of northern Malawi. Here, heavy rainfall makes conventional farming methods nearly impossible. The entire village is, quite literally, saturated in food insecurity — a reality that leaves families struggling to survive season after season without a dependable source of nourishment.

In 2019, Nelly began participating in Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience, a sustainable agriculture project implemented by Rise Against Hunger in partnership with the Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS). The project works with 3,100 smallholder farmers in Malawi’s Karonga and Mzimba districts to strengthen food and nutrition security by improving production methods, nutrition practices and household income.

Just one year later, Nelly was ready to expand the variety of crops on her farm. What land once only produced maize began to flourish with sesame, cowpeas, rice and groundnuts during the rainy season (summer), as well as maize and vegetables during the dry season (winter). Through climate-smart agriculture training, she learned new techniques like manure making, pit planting and mulching, crop rotation and intercropping. Equipped with these tools, Nelly’s farm began to thrive.

After the 2023–2024 growing season, she sold enough produce to purchase an ox cart. Her harvests in 2024-2025 season yielded over 500 pounds of crops, including 22 bags of groundnuts, seven bags of maize, 12 tins of sesame and three bags of rice. With this surplus, she was able to invest in a motorbike, which she now uses to transport African doughnuts (mandasi) that she cooks and sells — creating yet another source of income for her family.

The transformation reaches far beyond her finances. Nelly now has the stability to provide for her husband and children. “I am able to eat different food types, pay school fees for my children and fulfill the visions that I have made with my family,” she beams. “I am now sleeping peacefully without any fears of food or paying school fees for the children.”

Her leadership has also grown. Today, Nelly serves as a leader in the Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience project, teaching other farmers in her district to adopt climate-resilient, labor-saving practices. By sharing her knowledge, she is multiplying her impact — empowering her neighbors to experience the same transformation she has achieved.

Across Nelly’s community, food and economic security are on the rise. Lombani, a government extension officer for the region, explains, “I can see the community is being transformed in the sense that in the area, there is food, income and nutrition security. Development is also happening at the household level.”

Nelly reflects on what it means to invest in holistic programs that address the root causes of hunger: “We are now healthy people. Children are going to school after eating their breakfast, having high yields and different types of crops due to conservation agriculture practices. With the support from the project, we have food, and we can access other food items from the market after selling our produce.”

This is the gift that fills: a future full of stability, strength and hope. It fills tables with food, families with security and communities with the resources to thrive. It’s an investment in futures rooted in resilience and hope.