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Cinzana Agricultural
Research Station
The Foundations partnership in Mali is moving the focus of
its activities from sorghum, cowpea and millet research to enterprise
development.
Overview
The focus of SFSA’s activities in Mali continues its shift from crop research at the Cinzana Research Station to improving livelihoods for local farmers through access
to technologies and enterprise development.
Projet de Renforcement des Capacités pour une Agriculture Durable (PRECAD) aims to build capacity for sustainable agriculture among rural communities in Cinzana and Katiena by providing training and helping them to achieve fair prices for their produce. A partnership with Faso Jjigi, a farmer cooperative, is helping to improve farmers’ access to local markets.
Agro-economist and PRECAD Project Leader Salif Kanté,
is working with some 25 villages. He guides communities
in choosing ‘village teams’ of four to six individuals
to receive training, who return later to share their knowledge
and experiences with others in the community. Farmer field
schools and demonstrations help farmers to improve
their farming practices by fertilizer use, better fodder
for their animals in the dry season and improved storage
of their produce after harvest. At the same time, the
farmers learn the business skills they need to better
manage their income and expenditures.
Faso Jjigi is improving access to markets by collecting
and selling cereals and ensuring that farmers receive
the best prices for their produce. In the first year of
the PRECAD project, four villages sold 88 tonnes of millet
and sorghum, the locally produced cereals. New storage
facilities also mean communities are able to store surplus
grain beyond harvest time, and until the prices improve.
The partnership is optimistic that if results prove the
approach to be sustainable, the programme can be successfully
transferred to many other communities in Mali. 2006 Update
PRECAD's objective is to improve livelihoods and food
security of rural communities in the Ségou Region through
greater productivity in pearl millet-based farming systems
and market development of farmer-based enterprise.
The Foundations partnership in Mali is moving the focus
of its activities from sorghum, cowpea and millet research
to enterprise development. The new direction aims to stabilize
and increase the income of farmers. The new PRECAD programme
has hired a full-time agronomist, Salif Kanté, with extensive
experience in family farming production systems in Mali.
Dr Kanté will be introducing farmers to the new activities:
- Millet and sorghum producers will be able to store
their surplus harvests in commonly-owned storage facilities,
constructed with joint Foundation and grower funding.
- Instead of selling crops at harvest time, when prices are lowest, farmers will be able to sell them through Faso Jigi when prices are more attractive. Faso Jigi, is one of Mali’s largest farmer associations with 134 cooperatives. It has been funded in part by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
- Faso Jigi has links to commercial banks, making it easier to leverage resources for onward lending to growers through microfinance institutions.
- As a condition of membership, farmers first prove
to Faso Jigi that they are producing surplus grain.
The Foundation is re balancing its support of the
Cinzana Research Station, concentrating on funding
operational activities, with gradual withdrawal from
direct station support by 2010. This year, for the
first time, as a member of Mali’s national agricultural
research committee, the Foundation is considering
research proposals on biofuels, carbon sequestration
by acacia senegal and jatropha, a model farm, and
nitrogen fixation.
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FIELD
STORY
"The most important thing for a
good harvest,” Bourema explains, “is getting enough
rain.”
related topics
Technology transfer is extremely important
to developing countries.
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