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Mali

Mali: Additional credit for rural development


Press Release No:2007/397/AFR

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2007 – The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved an additional International Development Association (IDA) credit in the amount of US$20 million to finance the Agricultural Services and Producer Organization Support Project (PASAOP) in Mali.

“The initial objective and institutional arrangements for the project remain unchanged, but this additional financing is aimed at reflecting in action all the efforts made to date with respect to institutional reforms and capacity building,” explained Olivier Durand, the Project Leader in Washington. “In short, it amounts to demonstrating how the collaborative ties developed among research, extension, and producer organizations can now lead to tangible improvements in productivity and agricultural incomes through the dissemination of new technologies developed by research institutions.”

In relation to public services, this additional credit will make it possible to finalize the organizational framework, at the central and deconcentrated levels, of the ministries responsible for agriculture, livestock, and the environment, as well as the Office of the Commissioner for Food Security, and to complete the Public Expenditure Review and the preparation of a Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

To benefit the National Agricultural Research System, institutional support will be provided to research institutions and for the implementation of medium-and long-term strategic research programs, as well as the financing of research institutions for strategic, applied, or producer-requested strategic research programs.

It will also include the research institutions’ execution of research activities relating to technology transfer initiatives in the areas of biotechnology, milk and poultry production, the dissemination of improved cowpea varieties, water management, and crop diversification.

With regard to the National Agricultural Extension System, the actions to be carried out pertain to implementation by national agents and private lenders of contracts regarding extension activities, in particular extension activities relating to technology transfer initiatives.

The agricultural producer organizations will benefit from capacity building efforts relating to the identification and development of research and extension programs, support for the implementation of technology transfer initiatives and initiatives with respect to group leadership, communications, collaboration, and training.

They will also benefit from grants to finance investment subprojects aimed at stimulating innovation, particularly in relation to technology transfer initiatives, including in the areas of production techniques, water management practices at the user level, after-harvest techniques, small-scale irrigation, and collective facilities and infrastructure managed by producer organizations or associations of water users.

The negotiations between the Malian and IDA delegations relating to this financing were held from April 12 to 18, 2007, at the World Bank office in Bamako.

For further information on World Bank activities in Sub-Saharan Africa, visit http://www.worldbank.org/africa

For further information on World Bank activities in Mali, visit http://www.worldbank.org/mali

For further information on the project, visit http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=362183&menuPK=362217&Projectid=P105155

Contacts:

In Washington: Timothy Carrington 1 (202) 473 8133
tcarrington@worldbank.org

In Bamako: Moussa Diarra (223) 222 22 83
mdiarra@worldbank.org