Action BLE

Action Ble (AB), a parastatal organization, will implement the project with expatriate technical assistance. A system of small, farmer-built irrigation pumps, using water from a Niger River tributary, will be created. Some 500 low-head diesel pumps (5-15 m lift, 4 HP) will irrigate 2,000 ha. Each pump will be owned and operated by four farmers cultivating 1 ha each. In addition, 105 animal-driven, Pakistani-type "flow" pumps will irrigate 420 ha to demonstrate the feasibility of their use in Mali. To facilitate pumping operations, a pump repair system including a central supply shop and eight itinerant mechanics will be established, and fuel supplies (500 liters/pump) will be shipped during the flood season. AB will create a revolving fund to provide farmers with credit to purchase the pumps (at real cost, to ensure the permanence of the project), and production inputs such as improved seeds and fertilizers, along with a seed production program to ensure sufficient supplies of certified seed. AB will also set up an extension system of 24 agents, who will receive pre-service training and in-service training at the village level and who will work with village leaders to train 2,400 area small farmers in such areas as pump maintenance, water management, and application of farmer"s own unmixed seed. Extension efforts will be complemented by station and on-farm research, whose results will be delivered annually to farmers, in such areas as variety trials and crop rotation. A marketing system will be instituted to direct products toward free market areas or though official channels. To upgrade AB"s institutional capability, its staff will be increased and trained to supervise farmer production, and a wheat levy will be instituted to help AB attain financial self-sufficiency. The project will result in cultivation of 2,420 ha of irrigated wheat, of which 2,200 ha will be double-cropped with sorghum and 500 ha triple-cropped by adding legumes or forage, for a total of over 9,000 metric tons of grain.