Abstract for: Macroeconomic view of sustainability of dry forest in Androy region. A system dynamics approach

The Tandroy communities do not cease to practice slash and burn agriculture to satisfy their subsistence needs. To get rid of the spines, before feeding their zebu, peasants burn the cactus cladodes (omputia) and the mozotse (euphorbia stenoclada) vegetation. Despite these techniques, the performance of the agriculture and the breeding of zebu are successful only for a brief period. Nevertheless, in long term, these practices are unsustainable vis-à-vis the ecological pressure on the neighboring dry forest. These activities may lead to greater risk of socioeconomic disasters on both local and global scales in the near future. In this paper, we report the concept of a methodological framework for integrating the subjects of system of thinking and system dynamics and confront it with the Tandroy macroeconomic view, accordingly. Thus, we analyze the effect of both interlinks and causal relations between socioeconomic and environmental variables in Androy.