CAN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN THE MARGINAL LANDS CONTRIBUTE TO IMPROVING FOOD SECURITY IN THE SAHELIAN AFRICAN COUNTRIES: AN EVIDENCE FROM THE BAS-FOND RICE PRODUCTION IN MALI

To improve national food security, successive Mali governments have always focused on expanding and intensifying production in the government-managed irrigation schemes (Office du Niger), which account for about 50% of domestic rice production. Because the cost of expanding and rehabilitating those schemes is high, the government is looking for complementary cost-effective ways to achieve this goal. The government could increase domestic rice supply by investing in improving the farmer-managed inland valley swamps. Although the government has paid little attention to those marginal lands, farmers have been growing rice in these areas using traditional technologies. This paper used data from a survey of 334 bas-fond farmers and secondary data to examine the potential contribution that these undeveloped bas-fonds could make to improve food security and rice exports in Mali. The study found that, if fully developed, the bas-fonds and flooded plains could produce more rice than is currently being supplied by the Office du Niger, or imported through commercial imports or food aid. As expected, rice yields in the bas-fonds are lower than in the Office du Niger. However, bas-fonds rice production is both financially profitable and provides a higher return per day of family labor than the competing upland crops (maize, sorghum/millet and cotton). In addition, the estimated domestic resources cost ratios show that, compared to the Office d u Niger, bas-fond rice production represents a better use of domestic resources, both for producing rice for home consumption and for the market.Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, Land Economics/Use,

ON THE USE OF PRODUCTIVITY-INCREASING TECHNOLOGIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: THE CASE OF INLAND VALLEY SWAMP RICE FARMING IN SOUTHERN MALI

There is no improved seed-fertilizer technology available that can generate the needed growth in agricultural production in Sub-Saharan Africa to meet food demand by the rapidly increasing population. This paper identifies factors associated with inland valley swamp rice farmers' decisions to adopt "improved" varieties and/or fertilizer. To achieve this objective, input-specific logistic models were estimated using survey-generated data collected from a random sample of 221 rice plots (one per farmer) selected from a purposive sample of 12 Mali-Sud bas-fond villages during the 1995-96 cropping season. The model estimation results show that the farther the village is from the closest market, the lower the probability to adopt the "improved" variety, increasing the size of the rice plot will decrease this probability, and men are more likely to adopt "improved" varieties than women because men have access to credit through CMDT, and more alternative sources of income to finance input purchases than women. For fertilizer, the use of "improved" varieties, the presence of water control infrastructure, and the village experience in cotton production increase the likelihood that a farmer will apply this input. The significance of the village experience in cotton production and women limited access to credit suggests that one of the constrains to a wider use of modern inputs is the absence of a reliable source of these inputs and/or seasonal credits. The significance of village distance to the closest market and the presence of water control the likelihood of using these inputs suggests that there exits some technological payoff associated with well-functioning markets and road improvements because such investments reduce the effective distance between the farm and the market.Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Testing a community-based distribution approach to reproductive health service delivery in Senegal (a study of community agents in Kébémer)

The Division of Reproductive Health (DSR) of the Senegal Ministry of Health and Social Action, in partnership with the Population Council’s FRONTIERS in Reproductive Health program and Management Sciences for Health (MSH), conducted a study to test and compare three ways of providing reproductive health services to rural communities in the Kébémer district of Senegal in terms of their effectiveness, cost, and cost-effectiveness. FRONTIERS and MSH collaborated with the DSR to design the interventions, MSH supported the DSR in implementing the interventions, and FRONTIERS undertook the evaluation. This study, funded by USAID, responded to the recommendations of a 1999 workshop, organized by FRONTIERS and the DSR, on the community-based distribution (CBD) approach, which defined alternative CBD models appropriate for Senegal. The DSR sees the development of community-based service delivery models as essential for the future of health care in Senegal. As noted in this report, the general objective of the study was to contribute to the development of an integrated cost-effective program to increase the accessibility and availability of reproductive health information and services in rural areas of Senegal

Brown midrib 6 and 12 Genes introgression in two nigerien and one malian sorghum varieties: A practical guide to young scientists with limited molecular facility

Introgression of bmr genes from less adapted donor parent to well adapted high yielding biomass varieties with poor nutritional value is very important for sustainable cattle feeding during pasture scare time in the Sahel. The main objective of this work was to introgress bmr6 and bmr12 genes in Nigerien and Malian sorghum varieties background for dual purpose grain and biomass potential. The plant material was composed of two improved sorghum varieties (Sepon82 and Kalla Kene) and El mota a farmer preferred variety as recurrent parents. bmr donor parents were redlan bmr6, Tx630 bmr12 and Wheatland bmr12. The hand emasculation technique was used to introgress bmr genes in recurrent parents to produce F3 and BC1F3 populations at Sotuba research Station in Mali from January 2016 to June 2017. Anthocyanin pigment and heterosis effects were key phenotypic traits to identify F1 and BC1F1 plants during the population development. Anthocyanin allowed the identification of F1 plants in a cross involving anthocyanin (purple plant) and tan plants, while for both tan plants cross, heterosis effect was major key to discriminate F1 from parental lines and bmr segregation in F2 to ascertain successful crosses. The χ2 test was used to analyze bmr segregation ration. Segregation ratios of bmr plants in F2 and BC1F2 showed a good fit of a single recessive gene (3:1). bmr 6 and 12 genes were successfully transferred to three recurrent parents varieties which are at F4 and BC1F3 generation for grain and biomass yields potential tests in Niger during the 2017 cropping season

Mise en place d’un Village Intelligent face au Climat pour la réduction des risques climatiques et de l’insécurité alimentaire à Daga-Birame, Sénégal. Guide de visite de terrain pour la Réunion du Comité Scientifique Indépendant du CCAFS

À Daga Birame, au Sénégal, CCAFS et ses partenaires ont mis en place un village climato-intelligent (CSV) dans lequel plusieurs activités sont menées. Sur la base de la vision du village et de son avenir, un ensemble d'actions ont été identifiées par la communauté afin d'atteindre les changements souhaités dans la productivité agricole et la sécurité alimentaire tels que les activités génératrices de revenus, l'amélioration de la résilience et la gestion durable des ressources naturelles du village. Ces actions ont été structurées autour de quatre composantes: Les services d'information climatologique (SIC); le développement des technologies / pratiques agricoles adaptées au climat; le renforcement de capacités des villageois et celle des connaissances et des institutions locales