Vegetable seed kits to reach more farmers in Mali
Within the framework of collaboration between the SafeVeg project and World Food Programme activities implemented in Mali by the World Vegetable Center and national partners, 3,500 more vegetable seed kits are being distributed to more than 3,000 vegetable producers in 36 villages in the regions of Bougouni, Koulikoro, Koutiala, Ségou and Sikasso and. Each seed kit contains three varieties of different crops (African eggplant, amaranth, okra, pepper and roselle (hibiscus).
A ceremony to launch this beginning of this distribution was held at the WorldVeg regional center for West and Central Africa – Dry Regions in Bamako, Mali, on 11 June 2024. Acknowledging the importance of this, the event was led by Mali’s Minister of Agriculture, Honorable Lassine Dembele, Astrid Mastenbroek from the Embassy of the Netherlands in Bamako, Abdoulaye Kabdaogo from the EU delegation, and representatives from partners, the World Food Programme, the national Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER), the Directorate of extension of the Direction Nationale d’Agriculture, CGIAR centers (ICRISAT, IITA, ILRI, CIFOR-ICRAF), Mali’s national federation of vegetable producer organizations (Fédération Nationale des Organisations des Maraîchers du Mali), and representatives from farmer groups across the country.
  
Natènè Konate receiving seed kits from Honorable Lassine Dembele, Minister of Agriculture, and Aminata Diarra receiving seeds kits from John Nzungize, WorldVeg Mali Country Director
  
Samples of seed kits, and training materials produced as part of the SafeVeg project, and one of many farmers who expressed their gratitude to project donors and implementing partners
This distribution and related activities are fully supported by the government of Mali, which aims to ensure the availability of certified vegetable seeds in different production areas, through strategies endorsed in the Seed Policy of Mali. The distribution of these seed kits will expose new varieties to a greater number of farmers, and will be followed up by the collection of more information on the performance of different varieties in various environments. The overall goal is to increase vegetable production nationwide through the availability of improved varieties, and a greater diversity of crops including traditional African vegetables. It is also hoped that this will create more farmer demand for new varieties, and so encourage local seed companies to become more involved in the vegetable seed sector.
Dignitaries, partners and farmer representatives, together at the seedkit distribution ceremony
This is made possible with funding from the European Union and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands through the project “Safe locally produced vegetables for West Africa’s consumers (SAFE VEG)” – ID-4000003936, part of the DeSIRA program and implemented by the World Vegetable Center, Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement CIRAD and Wageningen University & Research (WUR), and national partners, the Institut National des Recherches Agricoles du Bénin (INRAB, Benin), Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles (INERA, Burkina Faso), and Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER, Mali).
This also builds on ongoing collaboration in Mali between the World Vegetable Center and the World Food Programme, where more than 500 farmers received training and vegetable seed kits were distributed, in Gao, Koulikoro, Mopti, Ségou and Timbuktu regions.
