Implementing Agency:
Department For International Development (PAND)

Managing Institute:
SOS Sahel International

Project Code: 038-680-001	Start Date: 01-Apr-88	End Date: 01-Mar-98
Commitment: £629,157	Status: Awaiting Confirmation of Completion	Type of Funding: Bilateral - JFS

Project Background:
Many parts of Mali are suffering from environmental degradation as a result of several factors including increasing population, climatic variation, overstocking of animals and overcutting of trees. Some of the signs of this degradation can be seen in the decrease in tree cover, the deposition of windblown sand, the lowering of the water table and the erosion of the soil. This project is designed to enable rural communities in the eastern part of Segou region to protect and improve their environment by reducing and ultimately preventing soil erosion using techniques such as building stone barriers along contours and improving cultivation methods. Tree cover will also be increased by planting windbreaks and individual trees using economically useful indigenous and exotic species. Project activities will also include working with women to improve the construction of stoves, and working with schools to increase the children's knowledge of the environment and their role in its development. Income generating schemes for women will also be implemented, including improved methods of processing agricultural crops. The work will be implemented by the villagers on a self-help basis and, because there will be minimal input of external technologies, it is expected that the methods will be reproduced in other areas after the project period is over.

Project Objectives:
The project is designed to counteract the worst effects of environmental degradation through loss of tree cover, by training extension workers and technicians who will work through existing village organisations to enlist the voluntary participation of villagers in implementing a range of measures that will alleviate the situation. Wherever possible, locally made materials and technology will be used so that the impetus generated by the project over 4 years will continue to spread to other areas once the project period is over, provided that the necessary basic extension services can be run by the relevant government department.

Intended Outputs:
The construction of stone walls along contours in the fields.

The construction of stone barriers in gullies to reduce water flow and erosion.

The planting of trees along the stone walls and barriers to help bind the soil, reduce wind speed, supply nutrients to the top soil and provide forest products. Also to plant trees near homes to protect them from erosion - in several areas unprotected homes have been destroyed by erosive action. Also to plant trees in fields at regular spacings to make the most efficient use of the land. These trees will be mostly indigenous species of economic importance, with some exotic fruits such as mango.

The construction of small village nurseries to provide the trees already described.

Improved cultivation techniques such as contour ploughing, ridging up of soil around plants to conserve moisture, composting and mulching.

Grass/legume strips at field boundaries to bind the soil and reduce sheet erosion. They will also provide some dry season forage.

Improved crop rotations - these can only be introduced once yields are increasing as they will include fallows.

Traditional open fire techniques for cooking can be easily and significantly improved by the introduction of efficient wood-burning stoves made from local materials.

Protection and regeneration of degraded land that no longer supports agriculture.

Pest control with locally available materials such as the leaves and fruits of neem (Azadirachta indica) and, where appropriate, suitable chemicals.

The introduction of improved methods for processing crops. Grain mills and presses could provide village women with increased incomes.