The impact of diversity field forums: improving farmer management of millet and sorghum in Mali

Malian farmers have been growing millet and sorghum for millennia, the crops that are still the main staples of subsistence farmers in an agricultural sector that is almost entirely rainfed since the farmers do not have access to irrigation.

Yet national yield averages remain low for both crops, at less than 1 tonne per hectare.  This is partly attributed to low adoption rates for improved seed as only 10% of the country's cereals area is planted with improved seed.

Farmers need to have access to a wide range of well-adapted varieties to cope with the varying rainfall and soil conditions in the region. Growing a diversity of varieties also helps farmers reduce the risk of crop loss because of pests and diseases, as well as drought, salinity or flooding.

A Bioversity project in Mali - Empowering Sahelian farmers to leverage their crop diversity assets for enhanced livelihood strategies - looked at ways to strengthen the capacity of farmers in two Malian villages (Boumboro and Petaka) to use more diversity and better manage local plant genetic resources to enhance yields.

Trials centered around the use of diversity field fairs (DFFs) - a participatory research tool that creates space for the exchange of ideas between farmers, extension agents and researchers, and to encourage farmers to experiment with different varieties and production approaches.  During the project, villagers from both sites designed and conducted field trials of both modern varieties and landraces, with technical support from project staff.

At the end of the project, farmers in the villages that had participated in the DFFs were better off in terms of expected yields and attribute stocks than those in control villages, suggesting that DFFs could be a successful tool to help farmers. To scale up the potential benefits of this research, the results also showed that it was important to have the commitment of long-term local leadership as well as coordinated support from national public institutions and donors. Full details of the research analysis can be found in the supporting documents at the end of this page.

National and international partners were also surveyed about the role of Bioversity in the project. Responses were very positive, stressing the value of the technical and scientific support given by Bioversity, especially in the key areas relating to genetic conservation, and its value as project coordinator, ensuring cooperation between partners to achieve the project activities. 

The project was funded by IFAD  [1], coordinated by Bioversity and implemented by a combination of local, national and international organizations.