USAID and ICRISAT Working together for enhancing prosperity : For several decades the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been an important partner for the ICRISAT towards improving agricultural productivity and livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING), part of the US Government’s Feed the Future research program, works to improve the productivity and environmental, economic and nutritional impacts of crop-tree-livestock systems in key production systems and few highlights listed.

1. Success stories of the USAID Africa RISING’s
Large-scale Diffusion of Technologies for Millet and
Sorghum Systems (ARDT_SMS)
Contact:
j.nzungize@cgiar.org
(Project coordinator)
a.diama@cgiar.org
(Project communication)

2. Building on decades of experience in agricultural
research for development, the International Crops
Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and
partners have implemented an innovative project on the
large-scale diffusion of new technologies for scaling up
sorghum and millet production systems in Mali
(ARDT_SMS).
The project is based on the premise that both production
and productivity of sorghum and millet can be significantly
increased in Mali through capacity building of producers in
the use of agricultural technologies.
The major aim of ARDT_SMS is to increase productivity
and improve farmers' access to improved technologies,
thereby strengthening the linkages and trust between
suppliers of key inputs, including improved seed varieties.
Between 2014 and 2018, ARDT_SMS brought together
several partners to propel the diffusion of new
technologies through innovative approaches that meet the
needs of smallholder households who mainly depend on
sorghum, millet and associated crops for their subsistence.
What did this exercise mean to them? How beneficial were
the interventions? Some of the beneficiaries share their
stories. g
To increase the incomes of sorghum and pearl millet
producers in targeted intervention areas by raising
productivity and profitability of these cereals.
Goal
To improve sorghum and pearl millet-based production
systems in Mopti, Sikasso and Timbuktu regions of
Mali through strengthened research-development
partnerships for large-scale utilization of priority proven
technologies. In order to achieve this objective, the
project had two sub-objectives:
1. Enhancing farmers’ knowledge of available
productivity enhancing technologies
2. Enhancing farmers’ access to improved technologies
by strengthening linkages and trust between
suppliers of key inputs and the producers.
Objective
Open-pollinated varieties and hybrids of sorghum and
millet, seed treatment, integrated soil fertility and
Striga management, and biological control of the millet
head miner.
Farmers who adopted these improved technologies
experienced a yield increase by 51% for sorghum and
72% for pearl millet.
Technologies
Adoption
2

3. Project beneficiaries in Mopti and Sikasso regions.
Photo: ARDT_SMS, ICRISAT
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4. Seydou Yolo (in red cap) at a seed producers’ training on the
biological control of the millet head miner at Sevare, Mopti
region, Mali.
Eight months of the year was the most farmer Seydou Yolo’s
harvest would last to feed his family of two wives and
fifteen children. From then on, the cattle would have to be
sold to feed the family for the following four months. No
amount of hard work could raise the yield from the farm of
this farmer from Doundé village in Mopti region beyond 4
tons, i.e., 3 tons from millet, 300 kg from sorghum, and 700 kg
from groundnut, cowpea and fonio millet.
“I joined the ARDT_SMS project in 2014 through Catholic
Relief Services (CRS). First, I joined a Farmer Field School
which conducted several trainings on best agricultural
practices in millet and sorghum. The trainings focused on
composting, seed treatment with Apron star 42 WS,
intercropping (millet and cowpea), conservation of cowpea
grains against pest attacks, microdosing, and improved seed
production and conservation techniques,” explains Seydou.
What turned the tide in his production fortunes was the
training on biological control of the millet head miner. “The
module was taught at a workshop in 2016 in Bankass.
Following many other trainings, my skills and knowledge of
the right practices for millet and sorghum production
technologies improved,’’ says Seydou. Today, he is a Farmer
Field School facilitator, seed producer and resource person, all
rolled into one, spreading the knowledge he has gained and
teaching other farmers how to ward off deadly pest attacks
that can decimate their millet and sorghum crops. He has
supported many NGOs and the district agricultural extension
services during the trainings.
Though Seydou has reduced the extent of sowing on his farm
given the physical effort it required, his yields have risen. The
use of quality seeds and improved agronomic practices in
millet and sorghum gave him a harvest of 7 tons (6 tons of
millet and 1 ton of sorghum). ‘’I could sell 480 kg out of the
680 kg of cowpea produced, earning about CFA 170,000
(about US$ 400) for household expenses. In addition, the
fodder from cowpea as a result of intercropping, is being use
for livestock fattening.
Transforming sorghum and millet cropping systems through the diffusion of quality seed and
best bet agronomic practices
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Photo: CRS

5. Lessons learnt
‘’Farmers in the community are open to testing new
technologies. Once the benefits of greater yields became
visible, they were more receptive to applying compost,
adopting microdosing, using improved seed and treating them
with Apron star 42 WS, intercropping (millet and cowpea) and
the biological control of the millet head miner,’’ says Seydou.
“Thanks to USAID, ICRISAT and the project partners who
exposed us to new technologies, neither would I have become
a useful member of the community nor have the strong
conviction that together we can make food insecurity a thing
of the past with such interventions.’’
Seydou mines the benefits of good practices
▪▪ Earned CFA 41,500 in 2017 and CFA 18,000 from the sale of
‘dodoli’, the local name of butterflies used in the biological
control of the millet head miner
▪▪ Earned CFA 240,000 on training beneficiaries in 2018
▪▪ Bagged CFA 75,000 as 1st
prize at a farmers’ competition
organized by CRS in Mopti Region in 2019
▪▪ By the end of the 2018 cropping season, an estimated 83 ha
grown to millet and sorghum in Doundé and 822 ha in other
villages had been protected against the millet head miner. g
12
12
20
39
15
70
18
38
30
51
35
20
Doundé
Ségué
Ségué
Bankass
Bandiagara
Koro
Training on best farming practices, 2015
Training on biological pest control, 2018
Beneficiaries of FFS trainings facilitated by Seydou
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Photo: CRS

6. Two women associations in Sikasso in Mali are changing the
status of millet and sorghum, using these crops to diversify
and improve food and nutrition security. Sikasso is one of the
most prosperous agricultural regions in southern Mali, where
farming is dominated by maize, potatoes, peas and other
crops while the nutritious millet and sorghum are less
popular.
In 2014, the ARDT_SMS project was initiated in Sikasso. Both
associations, Jigui Fa (based in Bougouni) and Benkadi (based
in Sikasso district) showed interest in undergoing training
conducted by the project partners. The women farmers were
provided with hybrid seeds of sorghum and improved millet
seeds which they tested on their fields. Members of both Jigui
Fa and Benkadi had better access to sorghum and millet
production technologies. Since four years, Mrs Habi Marico
and others from Jigui Fa have became sorghum hybrid seed
producers. The housewives are also involved in its marketing.
When both associations joined the project in 2014, their
members participated in trainings in integrated Striga
management and soil fertility and pest management. “Those
were the major challenges in our farming systems,” says Mrs
Marico. Then women groups were trained in seed production
techniques by the national agricultural system, the Institut
d’Economie Rurale (IER) and ICRISAT. The project also gave
them Apron star seed care.
Knowledge + passion : Women’s recipe in millet and sorghum production in Mali
The next stage involved linking members of the women’s
cooperative to seed companies. They signed production
contracts and it was agreed that CFA 500 (about 1 US$) would
be paid to the cooperative for every kilo produced. “Farming
is my main activity. However, before the project, I used to
produce some local varieties of sorghum for household
consumption, though not quite sufficient for domestic
consumption. Over the years, the yield of the local varieties
dipped and the information on sound agricultural practices
and technologies to enhance productivity eluded us,” recalls
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Photo: ICRISAT

7. Mrs Marico, adding “now we write our own destinies. We
have better access to seeds, to technology packages, and we
are marketing our own seeds.”
The project interventions have benefited 261,197 farmers
(among them 91,419 women) through 29,852 Farmer Field
School facilitators (including 10,448 women). Training
included modules on integrated Striga and soil fertility
management, seed treatment and biological control of the
millet head miner. About 1,082 seed producers (including 378
women), have been trained in seed production techniques
and post-harvest handling. These technologies were covered
on 68,299 hectares. According to Dr John Nzungize,
Coordinator of the ARDT_SMS project, “grain yields have
increased by 51 percent in sorghum and by 72 percent in
pearl millet”.
What is remarkable is that together, both women associations
produced 12 tons of sorghum and millet during a single
cropping season. While part of the produce was used for
domestic consumption, up to 10 tons were sold to locally
authorized seed dealers at CFA 500 (about 1 US$) per kilo.
“The seeds we produce are deemed one of the best, which
accounts for the enthusiastic buyers we get, ” says a beaming
Mrs Rokia Koné.
With this new knowledge, members of the cooperative are
now producing surplus seed for local markets, with earnings
being used to pay for the children’s schooling and savings.
Proving the old proverb money begets money right, some
women farmers have already invested in small businesses
from their earnings. Mrs Habi Marico now plans to launch a
second poultry business and is saving up to buy residential
plots for her children. g
Grain of improved sorghum variety produced by Benkadi
association.
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Photo: ICRISAT

8. Better seed and technologies bring windfall to Nah Dramé
What makes Mrs Nah Dramé from Sofara in Djenné
district, a witness to the effects of low rainfall and
climate variability in the past decades declare that “farming
is most profitable and women can earn better livelihoods
from it?”
This mother of 9 children and a grandmother has seen bad
times, lack of quality seed and information on good
agronomic practices affect productivity in her village. Her
local variety no longer produces enough to feed the family
and dependents. In 2014, when Sofara was included as a
target area in the ARDT_SMS project in Mopti region, her
active participation in its enabling technologies transformed
her life.
Climate resilient and drought-resistant millet and sorghum
are the main crops grown in the Sahel. The project’s
objective was to increase the incomes of sorghum and
pearl millet producers in targeted intervention areas by
raising the productivity and profitability of these cereals. To
achieve this goal, the project introduced and promoted the
use of improved technologies such as open-pollinated
varieties and hybrids of sorghum and millet, seed
treatment, integrated soil fertility and Striga management,
and biological control of the millet head miner. Farmers
who adopted them have reaped the rewards of a 60
percent increase in productivity. Nah Dramé on her farm, 2018.
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Photo: ICRISAT

9. Nah attended the trainings on land preparation and sowing,
application of fertilizer and irrigation at recommended times
and doses, harvesting, drying, and storing provided by the
project. Replicating her learnings in the Farmer Field School
on her farm, she was able to produce quality seed, which in
turn contributed to improving production, food and income
generated for her family. Emboldened by the turn of luck, she
extended her sorghum and millet farm from 2 hectares to 5.
Her attention to detail and use of quality seed and improved
technologies have not gone waste. Her seed is now sold under
the label of the national seed laboratory. “I produce seed
varieties that can cope with climate change. My seed is sold
to farmers in my village, neighboring villages, local farmers’
cooperatives and NGOs,” says Nah.
“During 2016-2017, my family together produced 5000 kg of
sorghum and 6000 kg of millet, earning us CFA 2,650,000
(US$ 4952.90), of which we spent CFA 250,000 (US$ 467.26)
on labor and CFA 150,000 (US$ 280.35) on clothes and mobile
phones for my grandsons,” Nah says proudly. This revenue has
led to a cascading effect. Nah now employs three staff to help
out. Despite the low rainfall, she is confident quality seed and
good agronomic practices will bring in a good harvest.
For her children and grandchildren, this windfall has meant
Nah was able to pay CFA 200,000 (US$ 373.80) towards the
training fee for her youngest child and CFA 25,000 (US$ 46.73)
for school kits for her grandchildren. Another CFA 50,000
(US$ 93.45) given to her daughter to start a new business in
selling foodstuff has meant a whole new standard of living for
the entire family. She also bought a cart, horses, oxen and is
building a bigger house. And there’s no stopping Nah now! g
9
“Farming has become
very profitable!
Women can earn better
livelihoods nowadays…
thanks to the ARDT-SMS
project for training me in
seed production!”
– Nah DraméPhoto: Nah Dramé, AKF

10. Mr Jean Goita has come a long way since his days as a
grain producer in his hometown of Yorosso. Today he is
a respected seed producer covering nine communes of
Yorosso district in Sikasso region of Southern Mali. Goita and
10 other members of his district were trained to produce
improved seed under the ARDT_SMS project.
“There are many seed growers in the communes of Kiffoso,
Karangana, Mahou and Yorosso. They are impatient to be
trained,” says Mr M Seydou Dao, President of an innovation
platform established in Yorosso district in September 2018
with the support of Mali Agricultural Market Trust (Malimark),
a national NGO and local partner in the project.
The platform with 100 members is the place where farmers,
input suppliers, grain processors, and traders meet to discuss
about their businesses. “The innovation platform has been a
good channel for actors involved in the agricultural value
chain. Farmers get to know each other and they are now
working together in a very cooperative way,” explains
Mr Mohamed Diawara, an extension officer with Malimark.
The farmers of Yorosso district have built their reputation and
industry on cotton. “Cotton used to be our first choice while
sorghum and millet production were low on priority,” says Mr
Jean Goita. “With poor soils, late maturing local varieties
which yielded very poorly (500-800 kg/ha), and crops that
were regularly attacked by all kinds of pests, we were looking
The birth of an impatient and optimistic breed of community seed producers
Members of the innovative platform of Yorosso.
for an alternative,” adds Mr Hamadou Dembele, a seed
producer from Karangana in the same district. There seemed
to be no end to the Sikasso Paradox, for Mali’s most fertile
region is also its least nourished. According to a 2016 report
by the World Bank group, “cotton has not made it possible to
limit migration, which remains a pillar of rural economies,
including coping with the shocks of cotton growing.”
Goita and many more champions are now turning to sorghum,
millet, cowpea and groundnut production. With the
intervention of the ARDT_SMS project in some districts of
Sikasso, improved varieties and best agronomic practices for
Photo: Malimark
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11. staple crops such as sorghum were made accessible to
farmers. Once trained, many farmers were able to increase
and often double the production of these staple crop and
even turn away from the solely cotton-based production
system. “In 2018, I grew an improved sorghum variety Pablo
and harvested 2 tons on 1 ha. This was the first time as
producer that I harvested so much of sorghum,” says Amadou
Dembélé, member of an innovation platform initiated with
support of the project.
Mr Fousseini Mariko in the Solabougouda Commune in
Koulikoro Region has a similar tale. Fousseini is one of the
best trainees in seed production. He encourages women
farmers to produce improved seed. “In 2018, three women
were able to produce sorghum hybrid seeds in our
community,” he says.
Among the other farmers who have started growing sorghum
is Mrs Téa Mariko, who began growing two improved sorghum
varieties, Grinkan Yerewolo and Soubatimi on 2 ha each in
2018. “I harvested 1.4 tons of Grinkan Yerewolo and 400 kg of
Soubatimi,” she says.
ARDT_SMS is implemented in partnership with NGOs such as
Malimark, EUCORD and CRS. Together, they have enabled a
large number of farmers with seed production, some of them
now registered as certified seed producers. This is a major
breakthrough for agriculture in Mali in general and for small
Seed production field of sorghum variety Soubatimi on
Fousseini Mariko’s land.
Photo: ICRISAT
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12. “Fruitful and empowering years” is how Mrs Afou Ouattara
of N’Tobougou Commune, Sikasso region describes her
three-year association with the ARDT_SMS project. This
45-year-old mother of four has witnessed and personally
experienced changes in production practices brought about
by the project in her village, be it in the form of microdosing,
composting or improved varieties of sorghum.
Sorghum cultivation had almost been totally abandoned
before the project, with maize and potatoes ruling the roost.
Says Afou, “We never would have imagined it would be
possible to achieve yield of 3,500 kg/ha from a hectare sown
to sorghum. The demonstration fields confirmed this for us in
our village in 2015-2016. Willing to see how it works, in
2016-2017 I convinced my husband to place one hectare at
my disposal. I brought organic manure and seeds of sorghum
variety Pablo that the project had introduced. I followed all
the instructions the extension agent gave on production
practices.’’ Sorghum is an indispensable alternative that
ensures food self-sufficiency. Stalks of variety Pablo are much
enjoyed by livestock.
Elaborating on the benefits accrued from this move, Afou
says, “I can harvest around 1800 kg of sorghum, a huge
contrast to the previous
years when my family
could barely extract 100
kg from a quarter hectare!
My husband and I decided
to set aside 800 kg for
home consumption and
sell the rest later when we
can obtain a higher price.
This meant I would have
to store them till then. I was able to get 10 PICS (Purdue
Improved Crop Storage) bags from a vendor to store the 1000
kg to be sold. Incidentally, the vendor promised to buy my
sorghum since the grains were clean and good.”
Proving that the adoption of right production practices can lead
to substantial benefits, Afou compares the stark gains/losses
from her harvest in 2018: “Our household’s entire potato
harvest went for a low price of CFA 75/kg (approximately US$
0.13) in the market since they had not been stored well.
Sorghum, on the other hand, sold for CFA 200/kg
(approximately US$ 0.34) in the same market. My husband and
I will sell our stock (1000 kg) to buy an oxen plough.’’ g
Pilot farmer Afou Ouattara’s success with sorghum
ICRISAT appreciates the support of CGIAR investors to help overcome poverty, malnutrition
and environmental degradation in the harshest dryland regions of the world. See http://www.
icrisat.org/icrisat-donors.htm for full list of donors.
We believe all people have a right to nutritious food and a better livelihood.
June 2019
ICRISAT-India (Headquarters)
Patancheru, Telangana, India
icrisat@cgiar.org
About ICRISAT:
www.icrisat.org
ICRISAT’s scientific information:
EXPLOREit.icrisat.org
ICRISAT-Mali (Regional hub WCA)
Bamako, Mali
icrisat-w-mali@cgiar.org
Photo: CRS