Sorghum and millet grow money for the Mariko family

Use of improved seed triples yields, credit through warrantage system leads to big gains.

Access to fertilizer is a serious constraint in Sola Bougouda, Mali. Farmers looking for hardy and resilient crops that need less fertilizer than maize have shifted to sorghum and millet. The Mariko family made the shift and reaped big gains. In fact, Fousseyni Mariko, seed producer and President of the Djiguifa cooperative, is a pioneer in his community. In 2014 he enrolled in a Feed the Future farmer field school and was one of the pilot farmers trained on seed production, credit systems, storage techniques and marketing.

Seed production business

Fousseyni recalls that there were few seed producers within the community and the yield of old varieties was around 900 kg per hectare. In comparison, the popular new varieties Grinkan Yerewolo, Tiandougoukoura and Soubatimi have more than tripled yield with a potential of three tons per hectare and one ton of seed per hectare.