In the context of the StopRats project, Association Vahatra, based in Antananarivo, Madagascar, is responsible for aspects associated with capacity building for African and Malagasy participants. Two individuals from Vahatra are involved, Steve Goodman and Voahangy Soarimalala, who have been working on the island’s small mammal fauna for several decades and have published extensively on this subject. Students from l’Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l’Environnement of the Université de Fianarantsoa and Département de Biologie Animale of the Université d’Antananarivo have been involved in
different field aspects of the Stoprats project on Madagascar.

In 2015, 15 individuals from countries involved in the Stoprats project attended a hands-on field school in Madagascar, which involved their participation in an on-going research project on zoonoses of native and introduced Malagasy small mammals. The field team also included several individuals from a French laboratory known as "Centre de Recherche et de Veille sur les maladies émergentes dans l'Océan Indien" to explain different aspects of obtaining samples for epidemiological work, as well as several field lectures on this subject.

A series of surveys have been conducted by Malagasy students in the Central Highlands of the island to examine in agricultural communities the level of problems caused by rodents and local methods to counteract the impact
of these animals. Further, a group from Vahatra, in collaboration with Institut Pasteur de Madagascar, is conducting educational seminars in some of these same villages to further reinforce different techniques for rat removal and control. Finally, meetings have been conducted at Fianarantsoa, a major city in the Central Highlands, with governmental and non-governmental organizations implicated in different problems with rats, including aspects associated with agriculture, animal husbandry, and public health. In the context of these meetings, one of the foci is information sharing with people living in the greater Fianarantsoa Province about different manners to control rat populations.