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

The project's activities focused on strengthening local capacities and systems, increasing the resilience of vulnerable communities and households, and promoting the Intensive Rice System (SRI) technology. In March 2015, a gender consultant provided short-term technical assistance to the CVC project to strengthen its gender strategy. The consultant conducted field missions to Sikasso and Mopti, where they met with project staff, farmers, and traders to test and finalize the Gender in Value Chain Analysis tools. The tools were designed to assess the gender dynamics within the value chain and identify opportunities for improving the participation and empowerment of women. The CVC project also continued its Sell More For More (SMFM) training program, which aimed to improve the performance of producer organizations and cooperatives. In March 2015, the project completed the last five SMFM training sessions on module 1 "Cooperative Organization" and module 2 "Marketing" curriculum. A total of 217 producer organizations were trained, with 1017 cooperative leaders trained, including 102 women in Mopti and 116 women in Sikasso. The project also started replicating the SMFM training sessions in April 2015, with a total of 150 participants, including 50 women, taking part in the first five training sessions. The training sessions were conducted by the project's staff and partners, including the Sikasso based Millet & Sorghum and Post-harvest specialists. In addition to the SMFM training program, the CVC project provided short-term support mission on financial services. The project's financial services and business development services consultant, in partnership with the Bamako based Financial Services Manager, conducted a two-day training in Sikasso and Mopti on how to provide efficient support to producer organizations preparing loan applications for inputs. The project also focused on outreach and communication, with a field mission to interview farmers for success stories in Mopti and a presentation of the Intensive Rice System (SRI) to journalists. The project also organized a national SRI workshop with the National Directorate of Agriculture and other partners, which aimed to promote the SRI technology in Mali. Furthermore, the CVC project signed a collaboration agreement with the Observatory of Agricultural Markets (OMA) to facilitate access to market information for rice, millet, and sorghum value chain actors. The project also met with the Coordinator of Programme de Compétitivité et Diversification Agricole (PCDA) to discuss opportunities for collaboration and coordination. Overall, the USAID CVC project in Mali made significant progress in strengthening local capacities and systems, increasing the resilience of vulnerable communities and households, and promoting the Intensive Rice System (SRI) technology. The project's activities aimed to improve the competitiveness of the local rice, millet, and sorghum value chains and increase the incomes of actors through the creation and consolidation of trade links.