USAID FtF Monthly Report April 2014: Improving Vegetable Production and Consumption in Mali, Phase II

The project is part of the Feed the Future (FtF) program, a USAID initiative focused on global food security. The project's primary objective is to enhance the productivity and income of smallholder farmers through the adoption of improved vegetable production technologies. During the reporting period, 1-30 April 2014, two AVRDC Global Theme Leaders, Dr. Peter Hanson and Dr. Jaw-Fen Wang, visited activities on vegetables conducted by AVRDC in two Best Practices Hubs (BPHs) located in Sokourani and Molobala, as well as a vegetable seed multiplication site in the Yanfolila district. The purpose of the visit was to interact with AVRDC staff and partners in West and Central Africa to review methodologies and strategies underway and make suggestions for improvement. The current activities carried out during the reporting period include monitoring on-station and on-farm trials for regeneration of improved technologies in vegetable production, as well as seed production and extraction of elite AVRDC legume varieties. Training was also conducted to expand the project benefits and lessons to other FtF community recipients in the Sikasso region, including the Bougouni and Kadiolo districts and surrounding satellite villages of the project hubs. Additionally, wells were dug at Molobala and Sokourani, and data collection continued for field testing of improved varieties in the hubs and for FtF indicators. The proposed key activities for the forthcoming reporting period include extending the dissemination of project benefits and lessons learned to beneficiaries of other FtF communities in the Sikasso region, collecting yield data from demonstration plots, monitoring project activities around the hubs and in Bougouni and Sikasso, and collecting FtF indicator data on areas under improved technologies or management practices in the areas under the project. Multilocational trials on selected vegetables will also be set up and prepared for the forthcoming rainy season, and awareness creation activities on environmental mitigation issues will be pursued among project beneficiaries in compliance with USAID requirements.