This document summarizes activities from the Africa RISING West Africa project in Mali. It discusses four key areas: 1) sustainable increases in on-farm productivity through fodder production and food crop diversity, 2) improved natural resource management and reduced vulnerability, 3) testing communication tools to prevent child malnutrition, and 4) increasing dietary diversity through local seed production and distribution. The document outlines specific trials, trainings, surveys and other initiatives conducted across multiple districts in Mali to work towards these goals through partnerships between various organizations.

1. Africa RISING West Africa: 2012 report
on Sustainable Intensification of
Cereal-Based Farming Systems in the
Sudan and Guinea Savanna Zones in
Mali
E. Weltzien (ICRISAT-Mali)
Africa RISING West Africa Review
and Planning Meeting Tamale,
Ghana, 23-25 October 2012

2. Outline and Contributors to Mali presentation
1. Moving toward sustainable increases in on-farm
productivity: fodder production
(ILRI/ICRAF/ICRISAT)
2. Moving toward sustainable increases in on-farm
productivity: Food crop diversity (ICRISAT,
AVRDC/ICRAF)
3. Improved natural resource management and
reduced vulnerability (ICRAF/ILRI/ICRISAT)
4. Child Nutrition: Enhancing mothers’ opportunities
for preventing malnutrition (ICRISAT/AVRDC)
Africa RISING , WCA work planning and review , Tamale 23-26 October 2012 2

3. Choice of priority activities in Mali
 Stakeholder workshops in the two target districts identified
opportunities for SI
 Quick win options & implementation capacity available in Mali
Targeted output/ Entry Point Target area Implementation
partners
Intensified livestock Bougouni ILRI, ICRISAT,
production – fodder, grazing Koutiala Mobiom, AMEDD, WU
Increased Crop Diversity – Koutiala, AMASSA, Mobiom,
access to seed Bougouni ICRISAT, AVRDC, ICRAF
Food and Nutrition Training of Koutiala AMEDD, MSF, ICRISAT,
mothers AVRDC
Transversal: Soil fertility and Koutiala, AMEDD, Mobiom,
Land Use issues Bougouni ILRI, ICRAF, ICRISAT,
Rural Radio stations

4. Moving toward sustainable increases in on-farm
productivity: fodder production (ILRI, ICRAF, ICRISAT)
 Diagnostics of on-farm productivity from a livestock
production perspective
 Testing fodder crops and trees in cereal based systems (all
partners)
 Quantify biomass productivity in farmer managed
experiments and in surrounding areas (Tom, Gatien)
 Options for modeling (Gatien)

5. Diagnostic survey of organizational and institutional issues:
land-use, NRM including forest, livestock and crop
production systems
 Community surveys using PRA techniques and
Household surveys (250 households, 25 villages,
Koutiala and Bougouni districts)

6. Population pyramid of Garalo “commune”
in Koutiala in 2009/2010
> 80
]70 - 75]
Female Male
]60 - 65]
]50 - 55]
]40 - 45]
]30 - 35]
]20 - 25]
]10 - 15]
]0 - 5]
0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15
Proportion of the Total Population Age Class

7. Principal Sources of household income in
Koutiala and Bougouni (% of households )
Income source Koutiala (% of household Bougouni (% of household
interviewed) interviewed)
Sale of crops 60 65
Sale of animals 18 11
Off-farm activities 15 10
(small-scale commerce, remittances,
salaried work)
Vegetable production 5 2
Forest products 2 9
Others (e.g. fishing)
0 3

8. Use of crop produced by the households in
Koutiala and Bougouni
Crop Household Sale (%)
consumption (%)
Koutiala Bougouni Koutiala Bougouni
Millet 79 75 12 23
Maize 76 72 16 22
Sorghum 77 77 14 16
Rice 75 60 20 29
Cotton 9 0 91 100
Groundnut 49 41 40 52
Cowpea 84 55 16 40

9. Key issues for Sustainable
Intensification from survey results
 Access to agricultural implements and inputs, credit
 Risk mitigation to cope with climate variability, and
market shocks
 Information systems and training on improved
agronomy, quality control of drugs and pesticides
 Value addition particularly cereals
and livestock value chains
 Adequate feed for traction animals

10. Testing fodder crops and trees in cereal based
systems (No of coops, tests and women/men)
Type test District No. No. No. No.
Coops tests wom men
en
Comparing Bougouni 4 28 6 22
fodder crops
Intercropping Koutiala 4 12 0 12
Installation of Bougouni 7 26 3 23
fodder banks
Installation of Koutiala 16 64 31 33
fodderbanks

11. Quantify total biomass in selected farms and possibly
surrounding areas
 Historical ground measurements of ligneous biomass
procured from Univ. Edinburgh on Ghana-Burkina-Mali
transect for calibration of automatic ligneous biomass
estimates from radar satellite (L-band)
 12-meter resolution ALOS/PALSAR imagery acquired and
received for 2006, 2011 covering 4,900 km2 in each of
Koutiala, Bougouni districts for testing of automatic ligneous
biomass estimates from satellite (ordered for Ghana sites as
well)
 WorldView2 imagery ordered for peak biomass (late
September) over 4 communities in Koutiala, Bougouni (more
over CRP1.1 in Mali, Ghana)
 Regional protocols meeting in Niamey 17-20 September
(CRP1.1)

12. Options for modelling (Mc Knight project) :
 The NUANCES crop model « FIELD » is being
calibrated for
cotton, maize, sorghum, millet, groundnut and
cowpea, using various existing datasets.
The FIELD crop model is being coupled with
the NUANCES Livestock model LIVSIM (already
calibrated for Malian cattle breeds), to obtain a
model operating at farm scale

13. Moving toward sustainable increases in on-farm
productivity: Food crop diversity
 Training facilitators for trial implementation (All
partners)
 Diversify seed enterprise and tree nursery options
(ICRISAT, ICRAF, AVRDC)
 Information campaign on Integrated Striga and
Soil fertility management

14. Training facilitators for trial
implementation
1. NGO’s recruit 1 technical facilitator
each, regular coaching and mentoring by
scientists
2. NGO’s train coop ‘animateurs’, trainers with
mentoring from NGO technicians and scientists
(20 coops)
3. Additional training for seed production, fruit
tree grafting, farmer managed
regeneration, best practices for fuel wood

15. Diversify seed enterprise and tree nursery
options (ICRISAT, ICRAF, AVRDC)
 Capacity bldg for seed sale for coops: sale of
minipacks of 100g (100 F CFA)
 Creating Union of seed cooperatives
 Seed production skills, norms for certification
 Capacity to conduct variety trials for choosing
new varieties for seed production, and creating
demand for seed
 Grafting and other tree nursery techniques

16. No. of variety tests sown:
Crop # coops # test # # coops # test #
(B) women (K) women
Sorghum 6 21 10 7 32 4
Millet (pops) 7 21 1 6 26
Cowpea 4 28 9 4 14 14
Groundnut 8 26 18
Soybean 6 17 9
Maize 4 14
Vegetables (4) 8 67 51

17. Information campaign on Integrated Striga
and soil fertility management using videos
 “Fighting Striga” DVDs distributed
 Second level distribution of DVDs monitored
 Field agents, technicians and lead farmers trained
 Fighting Striga videos shown in to approx 3700
farmers, (30% youth and children)

18. Improved natural resource management
and reduced vulnerability
 Overview over land-use and NRM issues in the
Sikasso region, and specifically Koutiala and
Bougouni cercles
 Validation of local land-use plans
 Establishment of innovation platforms, and rural
resource centers
 Supporting networks of farmer cattle breeders
and sorghum breeding

19. Land use and NRM
 Transhumance, crops and forest use
 Conservation of forests and water resources
 Forests and resilience
 Maintenance of roads and passageways
 Land use by women
 Firewood production

20. Types of land use conventions
analysed in detail
1. Natural resources management issues;
2. Maintenance of passageways for transhumance,
and local roads
3. Managing local fishery resources.

21. Objectives of innovation platform in Bougouni
(Yoroubougoula) :
 Limited awareness and adoption of improved technologies
 Land degradation, inadequate supply of crop and livestock inputs
 Market-related constraints including limited access to credit, low farm-
gate prices, high cost and low quality of inputs, weak linkages between
producers, and many other actors along the 2 value chains
 Policy-related constraints such as conflicts arising from access to
community resources and utilization especially between farmers and
pastoralists
 Institutional-related constraints such as lack of grazing areas and
livestock watering points
 Ineffective extension and other technical support systems, as well as
lack of policy incentives,
Are serious constraints to the intensification of farming systems in
southern Mali

22. Establishment of innovation platforms
Activities carried out
 Coalition of IP actors set up
 Stakeholders analysis to determine project
partners and their roles in the IP
 Need assessment and priority setting
 Preferred communication tools and strategies for
mobilization of actors defined for the official
lunching of the IP
 Set up of IP management team (members and
their roles)

23. Establishment of innovation platforms
Roles of the IP management team
 Follow-up the implementation of the
recommendations on IP activities
 Monitor, evaluate and orient the IP
activities
 Sensitize the IP actors
 Prepare the agenda and convene
the IP meetings
 Contribute to activities retained by the IP actors
 Facilitate the interactions among the various IP actors

24. 4.2.1 Develop and test options for introducing
communication tools for preventing child malnutrition, into
community health care system
 Nutrition activities based on the first 1000 days of life concept
 4 training modules prepared based on the 7 Essential
Nutrition Actions (ENA) framework
 Intervention areas: 6 communes in Koutiala; 6 villages per
commune (36 villages in all)
Africa RISING M&E expert meeting - Addis Ababa 24

25. 4.2.1 communication tools for preventing child malnutrition,
into community health care system (cont.)
 2 levels of training:
 Commune level: a total of 30 trainers per commune (5
trainers per village) at the health centres.
 Village level: 25 mothers trained by the 5 trainers per
village who received training at the commune level
 Cross-cutting issues of training modules:
 Exclusive breastfeeding; hygiene; processing methods for
improved nutrient retention; dietary diversification;
utilization of maternal and child health services; prevention
of malaria and culinary demonstrations
Africa RISING M&E expert meeting - Addis Ababa 25

26. 4.4.1 Dietary diversity, nutritional performance of existing
dietary options
 6 health centers supplied with seeds for improved availability
and access:
 Cereals: sorghum, millet, maize
 Legumes: cowpea, soybean
 Vegetables/trees: amaranth, hibiscus (sorrel), moringa,
baobab
 Aflatoxin management activities in groundnuts in progress
Africa RISING M&E expert meeting - Addis Ababa 26

27. Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation
africa-rising.net