Innovations for improving the productivity and sustainability of cotton-based farming systems in Mali
The Program for the Improvement of Farming Systems (PASE) in cotton-growing areas and the Permanent Assembly of Mali's Chambers of Agriculture (APCAM) asked CIRAD to support the "Family farm advice" component (CEF) of PASE. The support provided by CIRAD aims to improve the performance of the experienced advisory mechanism and to contribute to the reflection on the construction of original and innovative advisory mechanisms with the various development operators in Mali, including APCAM.
The objectives of the test actions implemented within the framework of the PASE are to quickly prove with limited resources the merits of the CEF approach, to assess the technical and financial feasibility of sustainable agricultural advice responding to the problems of farmers, to define an institutional set-up consistent with the previous objectives, and to have data on a sample of production systems in cotton-growing areas and on farmers' strategies. The CIRAD consultant carried out two missions on these test actions. The first in April 2006, the objective of which was to help plan the activities of advisers based on the expectations of producer groups. The second, the subject of this report, was carried out in November 2006 at the time of the test review workshop.
It aims to evaluate the CEF activities implemented, and to contribute with the PASE, the APCAM and the working group "capitalization agricultural advice" to the design of a series of CEF experiences on a larger scale. The tests are attached to the Regional Chamber of Agriculture (CRA) of Sikasso which relies on an operator (assembler) responsible for monitoring and coordinating activities. They are led by three service providers (2 advisers per provider and 4 groups made up of 20 to 25 neo-literate farmers per adviser) in the areas of Bougouni, Sikasso and Koutiala. They started 6 months late for a period of 11 months (January-November 2006), which required adaptations to the initial program.
Keywords: family farm advice, cotton, Mali