Déterminants de l’adoption des Variétés Améliorées de Maïs dans la Région de Sikasso Mali

Le maïs à cause de sa forte productivité est parmi les céréales sèches qui occupent une place importante dans la stratégie de la sécurité Alimentaire au Mali. Vue cette place de ce produit dans l’économie des pays de l’Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA) en général et dans celle du Mali en particulier, le Conseil Ouest et Centre pour la Recherche et le Développement Agricoles (CORAF) a signé en 2014 avec ces pays, une convention pour la mise en œuvre d’un programme collaboratif sur la filière maïs. Il s’agit pour cette étude d’analyser les déterminants de l’adoption des variétés améliorées de maïs dans la région de Sikasso Mali. Ainsi, des données ont été collectées auprès de 200 producteurs de maïs dans deux cercles (Yanfolila et Koutiala) de la région de Sikasso. Les méthodes économétriques Probit, Logit avec l’approche contrefactuelle basée sur basée sur l’effet moyen de traitement (ATE) ont été utilisés. Il ressort des résultats que les facteurs déterminants dans l’adoption de la variété DEMBAYUNA sont le prix de vente et la participation à une formation. Par contre pour la variété SOTUBAKA, ce sont le nombre d’actif dans le ménage, l’appartenance à un groupement, le contact avec au moins un projet, le prix de vente et la participation à une formation qui sont déterminants. Le Taux commun d’adoption et d’exposition (JEA) est de 39% pour la variété DEMBAYUMA et 64% pour la variété SOTUBAKA. L’amélioration des conditions des producteurs passe par une vulgarisation poussée des variétés performantes.   Maize, due to its high productivity among dry cereals, occupies an important place in the food security strategy in Mali. Considering the importance of the product in the economy of West African Economics and Monetary Union (UEMOA) countries in general and in Mali in particular, the West and Central African Concil for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF) in 2014 signed an agreement with these countries for the implementation of a collaborative program in the maize sector. This paper, therefore, focuses on assessing its impact on income, poverty, food and nutritional security, and on the education of children. Data were collected from 200 maize producers in two circles (Yanfolila and Koutiala) in the Sikasso region. The Probit and Logit econometric methods with the counterfactual approach based on the mean treatment effect (ATE) were used. The econometric results showed that the selling price and participation in training determined the adoption of DEMBAYUNA variety. The number of workers in the household, membership group, contact with at least one project, selling price, and participation in training influenced the uptake of SOTUBAKA variety. The Common Adoption and Exposure Rate (JEA) were 39% for the DEMBAYUMA variety and 64% for the SOTUBAKA variety. The improvement of the livelihood of maize producers should be based on the strengthening of the extension services, i.e., high yielding varieties

An Economic Assessment of Sorghum Improvement in Mali, Impact Assessment Report No. 2

Since the Sahelian droughts of the 1970s and 1980s, raising sorghum productivity through development of higher-yielding varieties has been a policy priority for the Government of Mali, in partnership with ICRISAT. ICRISAT’s involvement in sorghum improvement in the Sahel dates to 1975. Sorghum is one of the two main dryland cereals (the other is pearl millet) produced in Mali, and is both a food staple and ready source of cash for majority of the country’s predominantly rural population. This report consists of two analytical components, (a) a census of sorghum variety and hybrid seed use in 58 villages in the Cercles of Dioila, Kati, and Koutiala, where new sorghum materials have been tested in farmers’ fields; and (b) an assessment of the economic impact of major varieties of improved sorghum released since the study by Yapi et al. (2000), including recently released sorghum hybrids, based on an economic surplus model. The report also presents an ex post assessment of returns to research investment..

The potential economic impact of guinea-race sorghum hybrids in Mali: Comparing research paradigms

Rural Malians who grow dryland crops depend on sorghum as a primary food staple. Despite steady advances in sorghum research, in this risk-prone environment, achieving major gains in national sorghum yields has posed a challenge. We assess the potential economic impact of the first, Guinea-race sorghum hybrids produced and diffused using participatory plant breeding with decentralized, farmer-managed seed systems. We compare this approach to formal plant breeding with a centralized, state-managed seed system, which was the approach pursued prior to 2000. To incorporate risk, we augment the economic surplus model by applying Monte Carlo sampling to simulate distributions of model parameters. A census of sorghum varieties in 58 villages in the high-potential sorghum production zone serves as the adoption baseline. Our findings indicate that research on sorghum hybrids is a sound investment, but particularly when combined with locally-based mechanisms for disseminating seed. In part, this finding reflects the fact that despite many years of efforts aimed at liberalizing the seed sector in Mali, the sorghum seed system remains largely farmer-based

The potential economic impact of Guinea-race sorghum hybrids in Mali: A comparison of research and development paradigms

Rural Malians depend on sorghum as a staple food. Despite long-term investment in sorghum improvement, achieving major gains in sorghum yields has posed challenges. We assessed the potential economic impact of the first Guinea-race sorghum hybrids developed and diffused using participatory plant breeding with decentralised, farmer-based seed systems. We compared this approach to formal plant breeding with a centralised, state-managed seed system – the sole approach pursued in Mali prior to 2000. To incorporate risk, we augmented the economic surplus model by applying Monte Carlo sampling to simulate distributions of model parameters. A census of sorghum varieties in 58 villages of the Sudanese Savanna served as the adoption baseline. Our findings indicate that research on sorghum hybrids with the new approach is a sound investment. Public and private actors need to continue investing in innovative ways to expand the sorghum seed system. The sensitivity of results to the price elasticity of supply suggests commercialisation opportunities

Analysis of the Economic Impact of Sorghum and Millet Research in Mali

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) and pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum] are very impor tant to the economy and people of Mali. But, their productivity is low given the reliance on traditional, low-input production practices. The Institut d'Economie Rurale (IER) was started soon after the country's independence to find ways of improving the productivity of food crops in collaboration with regional and international agricultural research institutes (e.g., IRAT, ICRISAT, CIRAD-CA) . A numbe r of improved seed-based sorghum and millet technologies have since been developed and diffused. They were developed from two approaches: (1) selection within local germplasm, which consisted of collecting, testing, purifying, and supplying farmers with readily available materials. These are identified as Generation 1 materials; and (2) plant breeding, which consisted of crossing with exotic germplasm, and pedigree selection. Outputs of this second approach are identified as Generation 2 materials. This study evaluates the returns to sorghum and pearl millet research investments in Mali by combining farm-level survey information from 1990 to 1995 with that from research and extension in an economic surplus framework. The results indicate that by 1995, 30% of the sorghum and 3 7% of the millet areas were sown to improved varieties. Th e estimated benefits from research and extension efforts range from US$16 million (for sorghum) to US$ 25 million (for pearl millet). These represent internal rates of returns of 69% and 50%, respectively. A disaggregated analysis indicates higher yield gains and higher returns to Generation 2 materials than to Generation 1 materials for bot h sorghum and pearl millet. Unit costs were also much lower for Generation 2 materials. The major constraints cited by farmers as limiting their ability to adopt improved materials include lack of information, lack of improved seeds, and low soil fertility. The study concludes that the breeding philosophy should be diversified to respond to the need of the changing socioeconomic environment with the recent devaluation of the CFA. It also recommends that efforts be made to improve the economic farming environment to enable farmers to adopt mor e productive agricultural technologies which are necessary for rural poverty alleviation and improvement in national food security

Causes and Consequences of Increasing Herbicide Use in Mali

This paper examines the origins and impact of rapid recent growth of herbicide use in Mali. Primary data come from interviews with herbicide importers and distributors in major markets across Mali and from a 2014/15 survey of 700 farm households in Mali’s Sudanian Savanna zone. Results suggest that a series of major supply-side innovations are driving growth in Mali’s herbicide markets, most conspicuously a proliferation in the number of herbicide brands marketed, a shift to low-cost suppliers in China and India, and consequently falling herbicide prices. At the farm level, herbicides cost on average 50% less than hiring weeding labor. Despite low econometric estimates of damage abatement, herbicide adoption rates reach 25% in remote rural zones and 75% in more accessible rural areas. Key factors affecting adoption include spatial variation in herbicide prices and rural wage rates. At current rates, herbicide usage reduces peak season rural labor demand by 20%