MONTHLY FEED THE FUTURE REPORT USAID CEREAL VALUE CHAIN PROJECT (AID-688-C-13-00002) AUGUST 2015 REPORT DISCLAIMER The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. INTRODUCTION This report covers the period from July 20 to August 20, 2015. The main activities carried out by the USAID Cereal Value Chain (CVC) project during this period were the following: CVC field extension agents completed the disseminations of improved production technologies for rice, mil- let and sorghum in Sikasso region Producer organization (PO) training on rice plot leveling in Korientzé Field mission to assess damage to the Gladiè dam in the commune of Finkolo Ganadougou Fertilizer distribution monitoring mission for millet in the area of Koro and Bankass Small, Medium Size Enterprise (SMSE) managers business management training workshop in Segou Mission to meet with Sell More For More (SMFM) training beneficiaries’ POs in Sikasso region to evaluate the training program Data Quality Assessment (DQA) with USAID/Mali at the CVC office Internal DQA by ACDI/VOCA’s Regional Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Specialist Signed an agreement with radios to broadcast messages on improved technologies such as Intensive Rice Sys- tem (SRI), , Millet/Sorghum, Use of pesticides and packages handling CVC Year 3 annual work planning and team building workshops Participation in a presentation by the Mopti Regional Directorate of Agriculture of the 2015-2016 agricultural campaign plan Participation in the USAID funded projects meeting in Mopti Meeting between USAID/Mali Mission Director, World Food Programme (WFP) and CVC Meeting with USAID Washington Digital Financial Services Program team IR 1: AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY IN IRRIGATED AND DRYLAND SYSTEMS INCREASED Completion of CVC field extension agents support missions to disseminate improved technologies of rice, millet and sorghum in Sikasso region: During the week of August 6-12, 2015, CVC based Sikasso millet and Sorghum Specialist Mr. Pièrre Coulibaly and acting Rice Specialist conducted a mission in the Sikasso region aimed to support CVC field extension agents in the large-scale dissemination of rice, millet and sorghum improved technologies for better production, and raise awareness on the appropriate use of pesticides and the packaging. As a result of this mission, the same specialists conducted practical training sessions in the millet, sorghum and rice fields where they covered topics on crops density, thinning, appropriate period to fertilize the crops. During this mission, these same specialists raised the PO members’ awareness on the appropriate use and handling of pesticides. In total, 219 producers includ- ing 81 women were trained in 14 POs (11 millet and sorghum and 3 rice); 7 POs from the communes of Kaboila (2), Finkolo Gagadougou (2) and Farakala (3) in the district of Sikasso and 7 POs from the communes of Zangasso (3), Kolonigué (3) and Zébala (1) district of Koutiala. Training on rice plot leveling in Korientzé: During the week of August 5-7, 2015, CVC Mopti organized training sessions on rice-plot leveling for POs in Korientzé and Youwarou. The participants from 22 POs in Youwarou were transported to Korientzé because of dif- ficulty accessing the area. Participants were 50 producers from Youwarou and 63 producers including 15 female from 23 POs of Korientzé. The training was conducted by the trainer of SOCOFON/Niono, the company who produces the rice plot leveling bar. Field extension agents from the Regional Directorate of Agriculture (DRA), two CVC field extension agents (Youwarou and Korientzé), the training specialist and the irrigation specialist of CVC Mopti and a CVC irrigation intern also participated in the training. As a result of the training, six pieces of levelling equipment were ordered by the participants including 4 from POs and two from individual producers. Field mission to assess damage to the Gladiè dam in commune of Finkolo Ganadougou: On August 2, 2015 upon invitation of the Mayor of Finkolo Ganadougou commune (one of the concentration areas of CVC interventions), a team composed of the Mayor, the secretary of the dam management committee, CVC Si- Monthly Feed the Future Report 1 kasso Coordinator and CVC Sikasso Millet and Sorghum Specialist visited a damaged dam in Gladiè village. The ob- jective of the mission was to assess the damages caused by the heavy rains on July 29, 2015. At the end of the mis- sion, CVC staff provided recommendations to Mayor, producers and the dam management committee members. One of the recommendations was to contact the constructor of the dam, as well the regional office for rural engineering to address eventual design or construction errors. Fertilizer distribution monitoring mission for millet in the area of Koro and Bankass: From July 22-24, 2015, the CVC Mopti based millet and sorghum specialist led a mission to record the quantity of fertilizer provided to POs in Bankass and Koro. By July, 24 2015, the expressed needs were covered for 52% only (7272 bags or 363.6 MT) while 78 POs had expressed a need for 13,925 bags (696.25 MT). The explanation is that the volume of government subsidies for fertilizers fell sharply in 2015. For example, in Bankass area the quantity of sub- sidized fertilizer was reduced from 2,000 MT in 2014 to 1,000 MT in 2015. NB: there is not a shortage of fertilizers in the market, but more difficult to access by POs because of their limited financial resources and the typically available subsidized fertilizers. IR 2: MARKETS AND TRADE EXPANDED Small, Medium Size Enterprise (SMSE) managers’ business management training workshop in Segou: During the week of August 2-6, 2015, USAID CVC Project Financial Services Manager along with of d intl and the Financial Mobilization Specialist of CVC Sikasso organized a training workshop at the Hotel Esplanade of Segou. The objective of this training was to strengthen capacities of SMSE’s managers and owners in: i) develop- ment of action plans in the areas of business management to address their identified weaknesses, ii) identification, description and detailed evaluation of their business financing needs, iii) identification of financial service providers in Mali and abroad that can provide credit to SMSEs, and iv) use of CVC services provided to MSMEs in the value chains. In total, 13 people participated including 2 women from 10 SMSEs (4 from Mopti, 3 from Segou, 2 from Si- kasso and 1 from Bamako). At the end of the training, each enterprise has developed a performance improvement plan. CVC will monitor the implementation of those plans and will assist the enterprises to develop eventual loan applications. IR3: RESILIENCE OF VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES AND HOUSEHOLDS INCREASED Vulnerable communities’ technical interventions: After discussion with USAID/Mali on the shortfalls about the targets for vulnerable communities assisted by CVC, CVC prepared an additional training program aimed at assisting the vulnerable communities and households in the project interventions areas. The program targeted at vulnerable households will focus on the post-harvest practices, family storage, the use of weeding equipment on SRI plots and the preparation of organic manure for fertilization. IR4: LOCAL CAPACITIES AND SYSTEMS STRENGTHENED Mission to meet with beneficiaries of the Sell More For More (SMFM) training in Sikasso Region: From July 21-22, 2015 ACDI/VOCA’s HQ based Training Director, , along with the Training and Capacity Building Director of CVC Bamako, and the two training specialists from CVC Sikasso and Mopti conducted a brief field site mission to evaluate the SMFM training program. The mission was accompanied by CVC field extension agents and the CVC Sikasso coordinator. The team visited the villages of Djambala (District and commune of Bougouni) and Siramana (District of Sikasso, commune of Fama) to obtain feedback from benefi- ciaries of the SMFM training. Discussed were knowledge acquired during the training sessions, training methods, methods of knowledge sharing with other PO members after the training sessions, activities undertaken my PO members after the training, suggestions for improvement of the modules SMFM, and the beneficiaries’ needs for fur- ther capacity building by CVC. Members of the two POs in Djambala (Nieta and Sigidia) described the SMFM training modules as very useful for their organization. Producers increased their understanding of cooperative management through board renewal as well as better understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the board and members within the PO. In Siramana village the team met with two POs (Benkadi and Agro-Nyeta, gathering 12 men and 8 women). There, the PO members emphasized the importance of shared interests between members and the social responsibility of the PO. About the training the following points were brought forward as key elements: tracking of PO expenses and rev- Monthly Feed the Future Report 2 enues, collective activities, the roles and responsibilities of the PO management board, management and marketing tools, the used training methods as well as the participative approach in modules. In Sirimana, the four cooperatives that have participated in the training, organized replication sessions to the benefit of their members. The PO Agro- Nyeta of Siramana shared with the rice PO of the Sirimana the modules 1 (cooperative organization), 2 (marketing) and 3 (record keeping). Module 4 (management) was not yet shared with members because of the beginning of the raining season. As a positive change after the SMFM training, the cooperative Agro-Nyeta of Siramana renewed the cooperative board and two women were elected in the new board. Besides the positive feedback, two difficulties were mentioned by producers: organization of training sessions at the eve of the raining season, and illiteracy preventing some members to take notes during the sessions. This last point stressed the necessity of a literacy training to enable future participants to better understand the training modules.