Mopti Coordinated Area Development Program

Aga Khan Foundation U.S.A., with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its Food for Progress Program, supports the Mopti Coordinated Area Development Program, now in its third phase. The program aims to improve the quality of life for people living in Mali’s central Mopti region, a remote area near the Sahara desert with poor soil for farming. Yet most families in the region rely on farming for their livelihood, so the Mopti program focuses support on increasing their incomes and food security.

Two out of every three people in Mali live below the poverty line. With a GDP per capita income of just $1,100, most Malians struggle daily to feed themselves and their family.

Training Farmers in Business Management and Agricultural Techniques

Through better natural resource management, access to microfinance and improved marketing skills, farmers can increase crop production and earn more from their surplus. In the past, agricultural aid focused heavily on increasing food production while neglecting business training. Aga Khan Foundation, along with USDA, is continuing its innovative program that teaches business management skills and agricultural techniques so farmers can become self-reliant. Our Foundation facilitates connections with microlenders that have developed loan products tailored to the needs of farmers.

The USDA-funded program supports women farmers too, who generally grow vegetables to increase their incomes and their families’ choices of what vegetables to eat. The women’s decisions can significantly improve their children’s nutrition, making them healthier and more alert in school. The program also supports civil society groups so the communities themselves can better manage their natural resources and become agents of positive change and development.

Benefits Through Diversified Crops and Greater Food Security

This program has directly benefited over 60,000 Malians since 2007. Over 300,000 people will indirectly benefit through diversified crops, increased food security and improved incomes from agriculture.

The Mopti Coordinated Area Development Program (MCADP) is an initiative of the Aga Khan Foundation and the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM), in partnership with ACDI/VOCA, and made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Department of Agriculture.

Mopti Coordinated Area Development Program around the Web

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