Mali is one of the major rice baskets of West Africa. Yet it is highly vulnerable to drought and flooding, both of which are exacerbated by climate change.

To boost the resilience of farmers in the region, the AICCRA-Mali team targets the rice value chain and other key food systems that are integrated with rice production - such as legumes, vegetables, tubers, fish and trees. Currently, we’ve reached 400,199 farmers (43 percent women) with climate information services (CIS) and climate-smart agriculture (CSA) innovations.

We work with partners to enhance the yield, income, food, and nutrition security of farmers in the face of climate variability and climate change by adopting selected CSA and CIS tools, and using innovative partnerships and inclusive business models to ensure sustainability.

By expanding access to demand-driven, cost-effective, timely climate information services and climate-smart agriculture, we're also enhancing the capacities of national partners, such as Mali-Meteo, to sustainably adopt such services.

Through climate risk mapping, near-real-time crop monitoring and climate change impact assessments, AICCRA Mali is supporting research investment and policy decision-making.

Highlights

Collaborative business models that work for farmers

In collaboration with irrigation systems suppliers, AICCRA-Mali has promoted the use of “Pay-As-You-Go'' business models, which allows farmers to pay off the solar irrigation system in installments, with each payment contributing to the total purchase price of the system. More than 6,000 farmers benefited from the solar-powered irrigation system through the Pay-As-You-Go business model, which enhances farmers income by more than 5,000 USD/ha, and their food and nutrition security.

Multi-sector partnerships for scaling

AICCRA-Mali builds partnerships with public institutions to scale CSA and CIS technologies. Using the Niger Office platform composed of 442,881 farmers including 51% of women supported by 107 local extension agents (31% women), we’ve been able to scale drought tolerant and early maturing rice varieties, alternate wetting and drying, and a GEM parboiling technique in the Niger office zone, the largest irrigated scheme in Mali.

In the interventions area, drought- and flooding- tolerant rice varieties have increased (on average) yields from 1.3 to 1.5t per hectare, incomes from USD365 to USD511 per hectare, and food consumption scores from 3 to 5 points.

By strengthening the capacity of the local extension agents, and engaging with the management of the Niger Office, AICCRA-Mali ensures the technical and institutional sustainability of the interventions.

Climate-smart demos to build awareness and buy-in

AICCRA-Mali run demonstrations activities to raise farmers’ awareness of climate-smart rice varieties, mechanical seeders, Smart-Valleys approach for water control in rainfed lowlands, alternate wetting and drying irrigation method in irrigated lowlands, GEM parboiling technique, integrated rice-fish system, mechanical harvesters, and threshers using a participatory approach.

Over 17,000 farmers participated in the field demonstration activities for climate-smart technologies since 2022, including: 

• More than 700 farmers have learned about an improved rice parboiling technology called GEM parboiling (‘Grain quality enhancer, Energy-efficient and durable Material') – which produces rice of high physical and eating quality compared with the traditional technology. 
• 469 farmers participated in 'Smart Valley' demonstrations - an approach which focuses on improving water control in inland valleys by using low-cost water control infrastructure.
• Approximately 16,220 farmers have been introduced to RiceAdvice, a digital app that provides farm-specific guidelines for rice production

About 90% of the farmers changed their farming practices because of the demonstration activities.

Future scaling through digital integrations

AICCRA-Mali is developing an AgData Hub, strengthening the NFCS, and capacitating Mali-Meteo in ENACTS, citizen science, as well as supporting the Mali HYDROMET Project in agro-advisory services. This will help in upgrading food crisis prevention and monitoring systems planned under Mali Food System Resilience Program (FSRP).

Valuing women’s involvement in Mali's agriculture value chains

120 women service providers in the project intervention area in Mali were trained through local NGOs in the effective use of the game-changing RiceAdvice app that provides field-specific management guidelines for rice production systems in Africa.

As a result of working with women service providers and other trainers, approximately 27,440 women and youth farmers (45% of total number of farmers) in the project intervention area in Mali have been introduced to the technologies recommended by RiceAdvice.

AICCRA-Mali is led by Africa Rice in collaboration with:

• IER
• Mali-Meteo
• Niger Office

Further reading

• AICCRA Report: Strengthening multi-stakeholders innovations platforms in Mali
• Framework: Barriers, incentive mechanisms, and roles of institutions in scaling climate-smart agriculture (CSA) interventions in rice growing environments in Mali
• Policy Brief: Including soil organic carbon into nationally determined contributions: Insights from Mali