Two programs focused on helping farmers in Mali improve their production and cope with climate change will provide more than $1 million to support improved and environmentally sustainable agricultural techniques. As part of a larger program funded by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), complemented by funds from the Aga Khan Foundation U.S.A., the programs for Aga Khan Foundation –Mali (AKF Mali) are part of a three-year partnership with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and USAID.

Strengthening Farmers’ Potential in Communities Across Mali

AKF Mali will work with ICRISAT to enhance knowledge of new sorghum and millet production technologies in selected communities of the central and southern Mopti and Sikasso regions where USAID’s Feed the Future (FTF) works. This strengthens the market value chains, farmers’ income potential, and the ability to move crops from farm to consumer. Building on its grassroots experience with farm communities, AKF will establish and coordinate at least 20 farmer field schools, train 3,000 producers on sorghum and millet technologies; facilitate 15,000 farmers’ participation in marketing or demonstration plots; and train 20 government agents in support of the new technologies. This program also complements the Food for Progress program supporting farmers in Mopti, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Addressing Climate Change in Farming Practices

Recognizing that farm families in Africa’s Sahel region are among the most vulnerable to climate change, AKF Mali will also work with ICRISAT under a USAID-funded Accelerated Economic Growth Add-on grant to disseminate climate-change adaption practices and new technologies for managing natural resources in target communities in the Mopti region.

ICRISAT is a non-profit, non-political research center and part of the CGIAR Consortium. ICRISAT conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa and is headquartered in India, with a network of researchers in West Africa.