Agriculture and the environment : Mali case study

Results have generally been promising. The central advance has been the development of strong village-level cooperative organizations to work directly with commercial banks in managing agricultural credit, thereby eliminating the middleman role of Operation Haute Vallee du Niger (OHVN), the parastatal regional development authority. This change came about as part of a USAID-supported restructuring of OHVN which shifted its relationship with farmers from "top-down" direction to participation. The projects also spurred important policy reforms. For example, a reduction in fertilizer subsidies gave farmers an economic incentive to use organic fertilizers which are both cheaper and more environmentally friendly than chemical alternatives. The project also introduced technologies (new disease-resistant maize varieties, better fertilizing systems, and measures to prevent soil erosion) which yielded quick, observable results that engaged farmers" interest; increasingly, Malian farmers are aware of soil problems and are willing to change their practices to prevent further damage. There is still room for improvement, however. The OHVN, for example, still has only limited capacity to carry out rural development; extension agents need better training, and technology transfer mechanisms remain weak. Literacy training for village associations has produced only limited results. Key lessons learned are as follows. (1) Linkages between international research programs and regional development organizations are crucial in developing sustainable agricultural technologies. (2) Farmers are more likely to adopt technologies that are tailored to local agronomic conditions and socioeconomic circumstances, and that complement rather than replace existing practices. (3) The most widely adopted technologies are those that have observable short-term payoffs.