Strengthening resilience in Mali
Sanihan, like other beneficiaries of the project in the Ségou and Mopti regions, received training in good agricultural and pastoral practices as the project is linked to agropastoral field schools, and she is enrolled in a VSLA.
In Mali, many agropastoral households in the central regions – Mopti and Ségou – have suffered from the impact of socio-political crisis in northern Mali. This has triggered tensions among local communities over scarce resources and adversely affected households’ livelihoods, forcing people to migrate and exacerbating the already precarious food security and nutrition of vulnerable people.
Together with the Government, FAO and partners are supporting initiatives to build communities’ resilience. The caisses de résilience approach builds on the strengths of agropastoral field schools to enhance communities’ resilience in a participatory manner. The project targets 2 500 people, half of whom are women, and has three dimension – technical, financial and social. At the technical level, the project supports crop diversification to increase household production. Beneficiaries also receive animals with a short reproductive cycle to restore households’ access to income and productive assets. Women benefit from nutrition education to promote the diversified diets and consumption of nutritious food. Regarding the financial aspect, the project supports village savings and loan associations (VSLAs), allowing women to access income and improve their financial management skills. The collective actions and decision making strengthen social cohesion.
Nearly all beneficiaries reported being satisfied with the agropastoral field schools, how the leaders were selected, the number of sessions and the content of the trainings. As of October 2018, 100 VSLAs were established and all 2 548 members were trained. The combined amount of shares purchased by all VSLAs was of XOF 28.8 million (approximately USD 50 000), community funds amounted to XOF 3.9 million (USD 6 800), XOF 23.2 million (approximately USD 40 000) of credits were granted in total, of which XOF 12.4 million (USD 21 500) went to men and XOF 10.8 million (USD 18 500) to women.