Thanks for your feedback Anjorin over my infographic, such infographics give us a scoop of the facts in a way litteral description would take more time than we have in deciphering a given message, I do concur with you on that!... In fact we lately had the joint World Bank CORAF-WECARD (West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development) evaluation mission in Bamako and went over the achievements on that gender component to realize that we were way over 40+…
Knowing the importance of agriculture in Mali up to 41% of the GDP, as economic activity is largely confined to the riverine area irrigated by the Niger River and about 65% of its land area is desert or semi desert. About 10% of the population is nomadic and about 80% of the labor force is engaged in farming and fishing… Activities which have noticed women prevalence over the years despite earlier 2012 disruption due to some civil unrests observed back then…
To date since project start in 2008, and due to proactive leadership and local WAAPP innovative platforms erected along, new rice varieties, potatoes and tomatoes are making it easier for the rural women in Mali to earn more income on their daily farm activities… New equipment’s allocation with focus on women along with institutional partnerships secured by WAAPP leadership with other non-government actors like ONU Femmes, made it much better for the project to create the supportive environment needed to cover most gender based activities with additional institutional actors…
Poultry breeding and innovations introduced by local research institutions brought up the Wassachiè variety which remain way more beneficial in poultry breeding and associated business activities for a market still in need for meat and local produce… Newly proven parboiled rice as well remain a new way to consume rice for most Malian now discovering the many benefit of such rice…
All such avenues worth considering for the AfDB in search for new grounds to make endogenous agricultural financing a reality…
Hopefully we can keep up this exchange platform to better layout the road forward in sync with our respective achievements in the area of agricultural innovation and transformation…
Again thanks Anjorin for your feedback!
Good afternoon Moyib, and as you put it succinctly following a wrap up of the main areas of concern to consider based on illiteracy rate mostly in SubSaharan Africa, any further institutional major programme as the African Agricultural Transformation Agenda of the AfDB, must indeed consider the very aspects you pinpointed: “The foremost challenge of these women farmers at grassroots is access to information on good farming practice, value addition and sales to necessary community based industries at close vicinities. Therefore, the grassroots women farmers need: 1) these information in local languages by extension workers or nearby scientists that could play this role. on part time assignment or additional program.”
Just to bring your attention to the fact that WAAPP (West African Agricultural Productivity Programme) is meant to be filling the gap such illiteracy, marginalization and discrimination and alike have brought into the whole agricultural development paradigm. With, at all levels, corresponding set of adjustments needed at community level, to foster collaboration, and stakeholders’ engagement for better sustainability and resilience, the map above hereby reproduced shows main commodity specialization in Africa with each one of those countries within the program tasked to develop a major scientific and technological platform for the purpose of leading to a given Center of Excellence (rice, cassava, maize…).4 components were needed to reach that outcome, as a prerequisite for increased regional economic integration:
Component 1. Enabling Conditions for Regional Cooperation in the eneration, Dissemination and Adoption of Agricultural Technologies: Implementation of ECOWAS Common Regulations Mainstreaming Regional Strategies into National Action Plans.
Component 2. National Center of Specialization (NCoS): Upgrading NCoS Core Facilities and Equipment Capacity Building and Mobility of Researchers Support to Priority Agricultural Research Program.
Component 3. Support to Demand-driven Technology Generation, Dissemination and Adoption:Demand-driven Technology Generation Support to Accelerated Adoption of Released Technologies Facilitating Access to Improved Genetic Material.
Component 4. Project Coordination, Management, and Monitoring & Evaluation: Program Management Monitoring and Evaluation.
This last but not least component lately pointed out, would be a great area of focus for the AfDB in ensuring proper follow up at regional level, making sure communication channels are open across the region and that moving forward key parameters are maintained to their most relevance and appropriateness.
All this momentum can follow through and yield beyond expected outcomes, through better data gathering and collection... Proven ways to building #resilience in community economic development...To produce the grain needed for subsistence and the markets, #innovation
Going against the odds of an oral tradition in Africa urges new pathways to document existing success stories and best bet practices in gender, youth and agriculture...
Together, we can make it happen!
Vu le profil de l’environnement institutionnel prévalent dans la plupart de nos états, la BAD devrait non seulement travailler avec les Ministères et départements techniques concernés de nos pays pour s'assurer que les plans locaux donnent priorités aux besoins et des femmes et des jeunes dans l'agro-alimentaire, mais aussi s’assurer de la gestion du processus par le secteur privé, moins assujetti à l’instabilité institutionnelle.
D’ici-là, dans le sens d’une réorganisation STRUCTURELLE du secteur privé de nos pays concernés, le travail d’identification des forces et faiblesses de celui-ci devrait être enclenché au plus vite avec les mesures correctives nécessaires y afférentes... Du fil à tordre pour la BAD.
Succinctly put,and surely
Submitted by Demba N on Tue, 11/07/2017 - 01:11 Permalink
Succinctly put, and surely your hands'on experience on the ground got you being more pragmatic in adressing the issue of financing in women' empowerment...
When the Grameen Bank tried the experiment in Bangladesh, the rationale defied the odds of conventional financing...rightfully so, women kept their promises with their community bank and today Grameen is cited among the success stories that started out placing hope on women entrepreneurial power...It pays off and I'm a true believer!
In Kenya your local environment is somewhat way more supportive compared to some other countries in west Africa, I'm working to a farmer's insurance concept that might be fit in some cases in Kenya farmer's landscape...
Enough for the AfDB to capitalize and shift the thinking in gender and community economic development... below picture showing women entrepreneurs in Côte d'Ivoire in atiéké production with limited tools...