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

The project aims to improve vegetable production and consumption in Mali, with a focus on the Sikasso region. The project is implemented by the AVRDC (Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center) in collaboration with local partners. The project's key activities during the reporting period from 1-31 March 2014 included monitoring on-station and on-farm trials for the generation of improved technologies in vegetable production, as well as seed production. The project also extended its benefits and lessons to other FtF community recipients in the Sikasso region, including training farmers in new technologies of vegetable production such as composting and establishment of improved techniques of nursery and plant protection. Additionally, the project trained 46 local seed producers, comprising 18 women and 28 men, to satisfy the availability of good quality seed around the sites of Molobala, Soukourani, Finkolo, and Blédougou. A regional field day was organized on 17 March 2014 in the village of Sokourani, one of the AVRDC's four Best Practice Hubs (BPHs). The event was attended by the Governor of the Sikasso region, local administrative and municipal authorities, representatives of national and regional agricultural research and development services, NGOs, farmers' organization representatives, national media, and a large representative of farmers from Sokourani and the satellite villages. The field visit included a presentation of the experiment design of the BPH of Sokourani, which consisted of a combination of four different types of irrigation in each hub, testing three varieties of five vegetable species. The project also demonstrated postharvest handling techniques, including tomato juice extraction and conservation of fresh vegetables using a double canary system. The system allows for the storage of vegetables for up to 2-3 weeks without rotting, and tomato juice can be stored for over 6 months. The project also visited the newly built training center of Sokourani site and ended with the testimonies of three farmers, including one woman and two men, on the positive impact of the project intervention in their villages. For the upcoming reporting period, the project's key activities will include pursuing the extension of the project benefits and lessons to beneficiaries of other FtF communities in the Sikasso region, monitoring the project activities around the HUBs and in Bougouni and Sikasso, and collecting FtF indicator data on areas under improved technologies or management practices. The project will also pursue harvest of vegetable species tested in the gardens and collecting data on production, plant protection, and pursue awareness creation activities on environmental mitigation issues among the project beneficiaries in compliance with USAID requirements.