Erratic rainfall—a recurring problem in the Sahel—results in fluctuating yields from production test plots (PTPs), the principal mechanism for teaching farmers and extension agents the basics of improved technology.

Soil degradation in Mali has led to the abandonment of land and now, because of population pressure, the recovery of abandoned farming land had become a priority. With the assistance of the World Bank, action was underway to halt erosion with rock bunds or dikes.
“Hopefully,” says Dr. Marcel Galiba, “we can find ways to increase yields without significantly increasing production costs. In particular, we must find a way to reverse the soil nutrient mining that has been going on for several decades, and begin a process of soil rehabilitation.” Several hundred PTPs were grown each year to demonstrate the benefits of applying finely ground phosphate rock to the soil and of including grain legumes such as groundnuts, cowpea, hibiscus, and sesame in the cropping system.

“There are good national research systems in Mali, and we hope to strengthen further their linkages with extension and production organizations, and to support on-farm testing trials of QPM and other improved cultivars.”

SG 2000’s maize efforts are concentrated on off-season plantings in irrigated areas. The objective was to break the cycle of continuous rice cropping. The quality protein maize (QPM) variety Denbanyuman was introduced in Mali in 1997 from Ghana where it is known as Obatanpa (“good nursing mother“). In 2001, 914 hectares of Denbanyuman were planted in the cotton belt involving 150 villages and 1,272 farmers.

Because the rates of recovery of input loans to farmers have been uneven, SG 2000 and its partners have decided to limit input credits to the villages that have shown adequate recovery rates.

Farmers unions were popular in Mali. 12 credit unions were established in 1997, along the lines of the CREPs—the village-based savings and loan banks—in Benin or Togo. The emphasis began with savings mobilization. Subsequently credit was also extended, within the framework of local control and self-reliance. Membership of these 5 first CREPs reached 655 farmers, 270 of whom are women. Initial deposits exceeded US$4,000. One year after, the CREPs had nearly 2,000 members—one-fourth of whom were women—with total savings of more than $15,000.

In 1998, some 6,000 demonstration plots were planted, with 2,000 of maize, and the remaining 4,000 of sorghum, millet, cowpeas and groundnuts. 70 farmers tested Obatanpa and the normal protein maize variety Sotubaka for the first time. More than 2,000 kg of Obatanpa seed was produced under irrigation. There were now 13 CREPs, each with a membership of between 150 and 500.

Rainfall in 1999 was good in Mali, stimulating agricultural production throughout the country. Some 4,900 farmers planted more than 5,000 PTPs. Half were in maize, followed by millet, rice and sorghum.

Only four years after the initiation of the programme, more than 4,600 farmers were financing themselves their crop demonstrations annually, purchasing all the required inputs on a cash basis from a network of private rural stockists.

Nalongo, the local name given for the QPM Obatanpa, was oficially released in November, 2000. 18 tons were planted in 2001 on 750 ha through collaboration with seed growers’ associations and private seed companies.

In partnership with ICRISAT, FAO and the National Research Institute, SG 2000 became involved in an inventory credit scheme named ‘warrantage’ in 3 villages. Each village must have a cereal bank to store grain with part of it being used as a guarantee for input credit.

In 2003, Marcel Galiba said that « seed availability, however, continues to be a major bottleneck and something we need to tackle more agressively. »

QPM was given a national platform on Women’s Day in March 2003 in Bamako, at the Palais des Congrès where six communes competed by preparing 30 diferent dishes made from QPM. The First Lady of Mali, the wife of President Amadou Toumani Touré, was guest ghest of honour, and over 1,000 women attended.

SG 2000 also promoted the NERICA varieties in the country. In 2002, 500 PTPs were planted by 315 men and 185 women in 87 villages in the cotton belt of southern Mali.

It was decided in 2004 to continue the programme in Mali, in order to focus on complete the project objective, so that the country serves as a model in the Sud-Saharian area.