MALI LIVESTOCK FOR GROWTH (L4G) MONTHLY REPORT NO. 18 APRIL 2016 APRIL 2016 This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by AECOM. Mali L4G Monthly Report: April 2016 1 Contract: AID-688-C-14-00004 MALI LIVESTOCK FOR GROWTH (L4G) MONTHLY REPORT NO. 18 APRIL 2016 Contract Number: AID-688-C-14-00004 Submitted to: USAID Mali Prepared by: AECOM International Development DISCLAIMER: The authors’ views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. April 2016 Monthly Report / Mali Livestock for Growth (L4G) COMPONENT 1. LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION 1.1 ENHANCED TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION, DISSEMINATION, AND MANAGEMENT L4G provided two forage choppers on credit to two women-only Producer Organizations (POs) that are members of the Women’s Livestock as a Business Platforms, Edjuko in Pel Commune, Koro Cercle and Amakene from Koulogo, Bankass Cercle. This initiative permits 462 women members of the PO beneficiaries to increase their income. In the next month, L4G will work with the women to develop equipment maintenance plans and profit projection plans. 1.2 INCREASED ACCESS TO QUALITY INPUTS AND SERVICES During the month of April, the Koro private vet and his auxiliary partner vaccinated 800 beef cattle with the Pastobov vaccine and 3,700 sheep with the Pastovin vaccine. Private vets and their auxiliary partners in Bankass Cercle vaccinated 293 cattle for ppcb, 773 cattle with Pastobov and 1,908 sheep with Pastovin vaccines. April 12th: Senior L4G managers (COP, DCOP, PM, and M&E Specialist) met with Bank of Africa (BOA) officials in Mopti, including the BOA Branch Director, Mr. Bamoussa BERETE, and Assistant Manager Mr. Abdoulaye SISSOK to discuss options for securing credit for L4G clients. The requirements to secure funding through BOA include: − L4G clients must open their account at BOA (no charge); − Payment of 2,050 FCFA monthly fee to keep the account operational; − Loan duration is from 3 to 6 months for animal fattening; − Interest rate 11% to 12%, (rate negotiable); in a second meeting with BOA, interest rate was lowered to 10%. − Clients are required to share the risk on the loan; the starting point is loan guarantee fund of DCA; BOA may share some of the risk (only negotiable at Bamako BOA level). April 15th – Senior L4G Managers and IESC Senior Staff (Bamako) met to discuss to the logistics of working with BOA for credit access. A BOA priority for 2016 is to provide loans to registered women’s cooperatives and producer organizations. BOA wants to sign MOUs with groups for lending procedures that L4G recommends as “bankable”. The main constraint to moving forward with lending is to determine the risk sharing arrangements. Understandably, borrowers will be required to share part of the risk; many L4G POs already manage informal collective savings and lending programs which may assist groups with meeting the qualification for the loan guarantee mechanisms. On April 20th, IESC, BOA, and L4G USAID COR met to negotiate terms of L4G client lending. Based on the meeting, next steps are for IESC and L4G to develop a risk sharing proposal and present this proposal to BOA. L4G and IESC will conduct an assessment on L4G clients to determine which clients meet the qualifications and include in the proposal. April 7th: Senior L4G Managers met with Farm Radio International (Bamako) to discuss options for radio programming in local languages and increasing use of radio to provide extension services to L4G clients. L4G is recruiting an ICT4Dev consultant to help develop overall strategy and solutions for integration of ICT. April 2016 Monthly Report / Mali Livestock for Growth (L4G) 1 1.3 IMPROVED PASTURELAND AND WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT March 31st to April 2nd: In collaboration with Regional Directorate for Production and Industry Animal (DRPIA) Mopti and L4G staff, 63 people (3 women) from Koro District—including the District Préfet, Assistant Préfets, Commune Mayors, traditional leaders, livestock keepers, herders, buyers, the local radio, the Association of Professional Peasant Farmer Organizations (AOPP), and the private vet—conducted a diagnostic workshop to propose strategies for improving various livestock value chains links. The objective of the workshop was to grow livestock productivity in general; improve livestock commercialization; increase investment in the livestock sector; and create jobs through actions to rehabilitate and improve management of livestock markets, pasture lands management, water points, livestock passage corridors, and cattle treatment chutes. Participants identified priorities for each VC link and actions plans to address constraints. Additionally, the group identified and classified 80 livestock water points for Central and Southwest Koro. April 13th: Water Specialist Pierre Roy arrived for a three week STTA to conduct the water point assessments study.. Mr. Roy is working with a local Malian consultant from AKVO who has been contracted to provide local expertise and to conduct the water point inspection visits. Based on the Consultants’ initial queries and findings, the L4G strategy will be to rebuild watering systems at existing livestock markets and, once rehabilitated, transfer their management to local producer organizations. In parallel, L4G and our livestock value chain actors will rehabilitate water ponds located along the path where a transhumance route superimposes on a local commercial route (high Tropical Livestock Unit – TLSU) in those paths. Finally, in good grazing areas where there is no livestock water point, L4G will engage herders to encourage them to adopt modern grazing area management procedures. April 7th: L4G met with USAID MCCAA CoP Mr. Jeff Ratcliffe to discuss and finalize the MCCAA and L4G MOU. MCCAA and L4G also plan to work together to install more rain gauges and train more community-level data collectors on proper rainfall data collection techniques. A working meeting is scheduled on April 22nd to identify specific activities. COMMUNAL AUTHORITIES LEAD A DISCUSSION WITH LOCAL PARTICIPANTS AND COMMUNAL AUTHORITIES DISCUSS ACTORS ON IMPROVING LIVESTOCK MARKET MANAGEMENT, AT ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF PASTURE THE KORO CERCLE DIAGNOSTIC WORKSHOP, KORO MARCH LANDS AT THE DIAGNOSTIC WORKSHOP HELD FOR KORO 31 - APRIL 2, 2016. CERCLE, MARCH 31 - APRIL 2, 2016 April 2016 Monthly Report / Mali Livestock for Growth (L4G) 2 1.4 IMPROVED COMMUNITY LITERACY, NUMERACY, NUTRITION AND HYGIENE PRACTICES April 6th and 7th: 49 participants (leaders and members from 25 POs in the Communes of Dimbal and Kani Bonzon (Bankass District) met at the Institute for Professional Formation (IFP) to learn, hands-on, recipes that use Moringa leaves as the primary ingredient. The L4G Nutrition Specialist and the Gender Specialist conducted the training. The expected impact is that PO members and leaders can now easily prepare and consume Moringa-enriched meals to reduce malnutrition and increase consumption of foods high in protein, HANDS-ON TRAINING ON MORINGA BASED RECIPES AND vitamins, and minerals from accessible and DEMONSTRATION AT BANKASS APRIL 7. locally available and accessible production. The other expected impact is that PO leaders and members will sensitize and train on use of Moringa leaves in their respective villages. The next steps in the activity are: − Cascade training to members of the groups in attendance and to other groups so as to reach all L4G zones where Moringa can be grown. − Carry out follow-on missions to ensure that more households are incorporating Moringa into the daily diet. − This activity aids to track the L4G indicator on the number of households observed to be applying improved nutritional practices. Interest in Moringa is increasing as members of the platforms have expressed a need for 6,000 additional plants of Moringa. COMPONENT II. LIVESTOCK TRADE 2.1 STRENGTHENED MARKET LINKAGES AND ACCESS April 13th-15th: L4G staff trained ten (10) livestock market managers and seven auxiliary vets on techniques for data collection (LMIS) for markets located at Koro, Koporo Pen, Douna, Bankass, Diallassagou, Ouenkoro, and Koulogon. The objective of this training workshop was to train market managers and auxiliary vets on use of and filling out registers to collect market information; learn to analyze data; store data in a consistent and accessible manner; and disseminate livestock market information to actors and stakeholders. March 17th -18th: Respective workshops were held in Koro and Bankass Cercles to determine PO and Livestock as a Business Platform members’ needs for animal fattening credit and other investments, as well as to determine the need surrounding improved seed variety under the 2016 rain-fed production campaign. For Koro, 73 persons (55 women) attended. For Bankass 137 persons April 2016 Monthly Report / Mali Livestock for Growth (L4G) 3 (63 women) attended. The objective of these meetings was to identify the credit needs of L4G clients. L4G also met with the IESC USAID project, “Mali Finance for Food Security and Women Entrepreneurs Program” to discuss solutions to increasing access to credit for L4G clients including: negotiating reasonable interest rates between L4G POs and the Bank of Africa (BOA), and negotiating security deposits. 2.2 DECREASED BARRIERS TO TRADE March 29th: L4G COP and DCOP met with West Africa Trade Hub representatives (Mr. Bill Noble and