Reusing data for development: Lessons learned from an agricultural observatory in Madagascar

We examine the issue of data reuse to bridge the data gap needed for advancing agricultural and rural development in Africa. We present the contributions of an observatory project in Madagascar—a low-income country with weak statistical capacity—and the lessons learned regarding its feasibility, challenges, and relevance. We argue that leveraging existing data to foster sustainable development in a key sector such as agriculture is achievable and depends largely on promoting collaborative academics and public-private partnerships. • Data reuse is emerging as an attractive initiative to track development outcomes in countries with low statistical capacity. • This study explores its potential to address critical agricultural data and knowledge gaps, using Madagascar as a case study. • It highlights an observatory project's contribution that leverages secondary data from household and agricultural surveys. • Lessons learned from this project are shared to inform future initiatives. • Data reuse is promising and achievable and depends mainly on promoting academic collaboration and public-private partnerships.