The Millennium Villages Project's Community Based Farm Input Strategy: An Example of Successful Community Participation from the Ségou Region, Mali.

The Tiby Millennium Village represents two major African farming systems: (1) the mixed sorghum/millet, cattle, tree crops farming system of the Sudan savanna and (2) the irrigated rice-based systems along major river floodplains. The project covers two rural communes made of 39 villages and hosting 64,165 people. Most people have irrigated plots for growing rice and rainfed plots devoted to dry cereals production such as pearl millet and sorghum. The obstacles for development in the area are a result of the combined effect of economic, social and climatic constraints forcing people to use unsustainable management practices. Climate shocks in particular can undermine several years of improvement. Food security is a major challenge linked to unreliable rainfall, poor water supply and poor market/price opportunities. Farmers sell much of their crop production to solve cash constraints just after harvest when the prices are very low; they then usually take loans contracted from the banks to buy fertilizers and other farm inputs. The scenario is repeated year after year just as if they only recycle poverty and hunger. The MV has initiated a joint community based strategy for continued and satisfactory farmer access to fertilizers and other farm inputs. Through this strategy, more than 90% of the farmers have had direct access to fertilizers without hassle in 2007. This paper describes the strategy, community participation, and the communication methods developed to reach all categories of farmers used to change farming from subsistence to a commercial, entrepreneurial type.