Monthly Feed the Future Report: USAID Cereal Value Chain Project (AID-688-C-13-00002) May 2015 Report

The project's main activity during the reporting period from April 20 to May 20, 2015, was the organization of value chain actor linking workshops in six districts. These workshops brought together producers, wholesalers, traders, and input providers to establish linkages and evaluate the performance of the previous agricultural campaign. The workshops enabled producers and input providers to discuss the quality, quantity, and prices of improved seeds and fertilizers. Cereal wholesalers and traders explained their demands in terms of quality and quantity. The typical workshop program included presentations on key concepts in value chain analysis, profit sharing, and marketing strategies. Participants also discussed the benefits of improved technologies that reduce unit costs and improve profitability. During the workshops, direct linkages were established between wholesalers/traders and producer organizations (POs) and between the POs and seed companies and fertilizer providers. The POs made recommendations to improve collaboration between the POs and their close advisors, the CVC field extension agents. They emphasized the need for availability of field extension agents during the period of loans applications, the agricultural campaign, and the yield measurement time. In addition to the workshops, the project held a training workshop on paddy parboiling techniques for women POs in Mopti. The workshop enabled the participants to acquire rice parboiling techniques, which will be replicated in their respective organizations. A close follow-up strategy has been put in place by the project to support these women in their practices. The project also supported the mini-rice mill Planète Distribution in Mopti to get a loan from the Malian Bank of Solidarity (BMS-SA) to buy fuel, oil, and fertilizers for members of the mill. The loan will be reimbursed to BMS-SA after reimbursement in kind by producers connected to Planète Distribution. The project also provided background information to BMS related to a second request of Planète Distribution for a loan. The project identified and selected six financial intermediaries to assist field extension workers in supporting POs to prepare loan applications for the 2015-2016 agricultural campaign. The project also managed outstanding credit in Mopti by meeting with PO leaders to discuss the reimbursement of outstanding credits with the BNDA. The leaders decided that each PO must pay at least CFA to BNDA before the end of May to demonstrate their willingness to respect their commitments. The project conducted a monitoring mission in Niono, Bougouni, and Koutiala districts to check the reimbursement rate of loans granted by So. The project also met with the Feed the Future greenhouse gas emissions study team to discuss the objectives and activities of CVC. The project provided specific information on CVC's large-scale extension of improved production technologies and targeted intervention areas.