The dissertation focuses on the traditional irrigation systems of the Vakinankaratra highlands and the Betsileo country, cultural landscapes emblematic of Madagascar's Central Highlands, where water, rice cultivation, and ancestral values are deeply intertwined. Shaped over generations, these hydraulic systems embody technical, social, environmental, and identity-based dimensions, making the irrigated landscape a form of heritage that is both tangible and intangible.

The research explores the contemporary pressures affecting these systems: environmental challenges, particularly the impact of climate change on water availability; cultural and social transformations that alter agricultural practices and the relationship to ancestral land (tanindrazana); and economic and political issues such as agricultural modernization, demographic pressure, deforestation/afforestation, and resource-use conflicts. Grounded in the idea that "the environment preserves culture, and culture preserves the environment," the project examines the circular relationship between cultural imaginaries, agricultural practices, and ecological resilience.