Mali is located in West Africa, southwest of Algeria. The country’s total land area is 1,240,192 sq km. In comparison, Mali is slightly larger than Colombia, and roughly twice the size of the state of Texas in the U.S. The country’s climate ranges from subtropical to arid, and more than half of its land area is desert or semi-desert. Of the total land area, less than four percent is utilized for cultivated crops, with no notable dedication of land to permanent crops such as fruit- and nut-bearing trees. Environmental issues include deforestation, soil erosion, desertification and inadequate supplies of potable water. Mali’s population is approximately 13.4 million, with 36 percent living in poverty. Only 3.2 million people are considered to be in the labor force, with 80 percent of those dedicated to agriculture. The remaining population is unaccounted for or considered nomadic. Mali is one of the world’s 25 poorest countries. It is supported by foreign aid and vulnerable to fluctuations in world prices for gold and cotton, its main exports. However, the government has continued successful implementation of an International Monetary Fund (IMF)-recommended structural adjustment program, helping the economy to grow and attract foreign investment. Also, Mali’s government has joined with three other cotton producing countries in the region – Benin, Burkina Faso and Chad (known as the Cotton-4 countries) – to lobby in the World Trade Organization for fewer subsidies to cotton producers in competing countries. Other agricultural products from Mali include millet, rice, maize, vegetables, peanuts and livestock. The North and West Africa Division is responsible for IFDC activities in Mali.
Current IFDC Projects in Mali
- Toward Sustainable Clusters in Agribusiness through Learning in Entrepreneurship (2SCALE), 2012-2016
2SCALE is improving rural livelihoods, nutrition and food security in Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Sudan and Uganda, with 1.15 million smallholder families ultimately increasing their productivity by 100 percent and their net incomes by 30 percent. A key component is the development of a portfolio of 500 robust and viable agribusiness clusters and value chains to supply food to regional, national and local markets and the least fortunate, also known as base-of-the-pyramid (BoP) consumers.
DONOR: The Netherlands’ Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS)
- Development of Sesame Production and Processing for Export from Mali (CFC-KIT), 2011-2013
The project goal is to reduce smallholder farmers’ poverty by strengthening their position in the sesame value chain and improving sesame production and processing. To achieve this, the project (2011-2013) is supporting the establishment and development of sesame agribusiness clusters (ABCs) and value chains. In addition, the project includes farmer field schools (FFS) that build or reinforce large numbers of farmers’ capacities in sesame production. The rigorous application of good agricultural practices is expected to increase yields by at least 50 percent. According to exporters, however, sesame impurity is still too high to yield a profit. To address this issue, ABC participants are being taught to apply IFDC’s Competitive Agricultural Systems and Enterprises (CASE) solution.
DONOR: Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) and Royal Tropical Institute (KIT)
- Grassroots Development of Agribusiness Clusters in Mali (DEBPEA), 2009-2014
As an extension of the From Thousands to Millions (1000s+) project, the Grassroots Development of Agribusiness Clusters in Mali project aims to increase the number of agribusiness clusters in Mali by 30 percent, and to build on the strategy of making agro-dealer clusters sustainable – economically, organizationally and environmentally. The project also contributes to business development in rural areas and agro-input distribution.
DONOR: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Mali
- Fertilizer and Sustainable Agricultural Development (F&SAD), Ongoing
The F&SAD project improves access to, and the efficient use of agro-inputs in the West African nations of Mali, Niger and Togo. Using the Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) approach, F&SAD provides agricultural intensification support. In addition to ISFM, the project includes participatory development of technology packages and facilitation of improved linkages between farmers and input and output markets.
DONOR: International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA)
- Marketing Inputs Regionally (MIR Plus), 2009-2013
MIR Plus is improving policy and regulatory environments in the 15 nations of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS). The project is increasing the use and efficiency of agro-inputs, improving the availability of technical and market information and using technology to link producers’ organizations with agro-dealers. The project links 2.23 million farmers to agro-dealers who will help train and supply the farmers. The project should increase maize and rain-fed rice yields by 20 percent for targeted farmers in Ghana and Nigeria, and increase irrigated rice yields in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone by 20 percent.
DONORS: Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), the Netherlands’ Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS)
- Prevention of Seed Cotton Contamination in West Africa, 2009-2013
This three-year pilot project is assisting cotton traders, producer organizations and 27,000 farmers in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali to significantly reduce high cotton contamination. 100,000 tons of seed cotton will be affected over the life of the project. The project demonstrates that enhanced efforts to produce uncontaminated cotton lint are rewarded with higher world market prices, increasing revenues for both cotton enterprises and smallholder farmers.
DONOR: Common Fund for Commodities, European Union
- USAID West Africa Fertilizer Program (USAID WAFP), 2012-2017
USAID WAFP is working to increase food security and reduce poverty and hunger in West Africa by reducing the cost of fertilizer and increasing its use, reducing the distance between the farm gate and agro-dealers and increasing the efficiency of fertilizer use through accurate fertilizer recommendations. While the program has a regional focus, country-specific interventions are being implemented in Ghana, Liberia, Mali and Senegal. Activities are targeting 1,600 agro-dealers, who will provide an estimated 30,000 farmers with access to new agricultural technologies.
DONORS: U.S. Agency for International Development’s West Africa mission (USAID/WA)
- USAID West Africa Cotton Improvement Program (WACIP), 2007-2013
USAID WACIP is boosting the productivity and profitability of the cotton sector in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali, known as the Cotton Four (C-4). IFDC works with farmers, researchers, input distributors, private enterprises, inter-professional associations and textile artisans – promoting advanced agricultural practices that improve yields, building capacities, supporting the ginning sector and training artisans to access regional and international markets.
DONOR: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Recent IFDC Projects in Mali
- From Thousands to Millions (1000s+), 2006-2010
The 1000s+ project improved the livelihoods of nearly one million farm households, involving 10 million people, through the up-scaling of IFDC’s Competitive Agricultural Systems and Enterprises (CASE) approach. The farmer-led initiative, based on agribusiness cluster formation, targeted Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Togo. The project also focused on Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM), improving soil fertility through the combined use of mineral and organic fertilizers.
DONOR: The Netherlands’ Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS)
- Accelerating Agribusiness in Africa – Bridge (AAA-Bridge), 2011-2012
The AAA-Bridge project was an extension of Strategic Alliance for Agricultural Development in Africa (SAADA-B) activities. The objective of AAA-Bridge was to expand IFDC activities and best practices developed in West Africa, such as the Competitive Agricultural Systems and Enterprises (CASE) solution, Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM), fertilizer deep placement (FDP), fertilizer resource assessments and market information systems (MIS), into other regions of Africa. Specifically, this project expansion was designed to replicate the CASE approach and other aspects of the IFDC agribusiness model in select countries of eastern and southern Africa.
- Rural Economic Development of the Koulikoro Region/ Développement Économique de la Région Koulikoro (DERK II), 2006-2011
The DERK II project is building the capacities of the oilseed value chains (jatropha, sesame, shea butter) in Mali’s agricultural sector, focusing on the country’s Koulikoro region. To assist farmer organizations, DERK II provides training, access to agro-inputs and product processing, packaging, transportation and marketing. The project also builds linkages to agro-dealers, financial institutions and import/export enterprises.
DONOR: Netherlands Development Organization (SNV)
- Marketing Inputs Regionally (MIR), 2002-2008
The MIR project increased the affordability and accessibility of quality inputs for targeted smallholders in West Africa, and provided technical support and training for farmers and dealers. MIR developed regional and national regulatory frameworks, supported the advancement of farmer and agro-dealer associations, facilitated dialogue along the value chain and implemented sustainable development of the cotton agro-input sub-sector.
DONOR: The Netherlands’ Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS)
- Rice Emergency Initiative, 2009-2010
The Rice Emergency Initiative was created, in part, to boost rice production in Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal in order to mitigate potential shortages of this staple crop. The program targets 10,000 rice farmers in each of the nations and aims to boost total domestic rice production by 30,000 tons of paddy rice. IFDC is also improving access for the 40,000 farmers to certified rice seed and quality fertilizer.
DONOR: Africa Rice Center, U.S. Agency for International Development
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Mali Information
Mali Articles
MIR Plus (Taken from IFDC Report Volume 36, No. 2)