Mali's farmers count on national fund to expand climate insurance

Author: Soumaila T. Diarra

BAMAKO, Mali, April 23 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A lack of rain in the middle of last season caused Seydou Diarassouba's sorghum crop to fail.

Now the emaciated 43-year old farmer must wait for the next rains, due in late June, to start growing a new crop in his impoverished village of Dialakoroba in southern Mali.

Climate-linked agriculture risks like these should be covered by a national fund being set up by Mali's government and due to start operating this year, according to Ibrahima Coulibaly of the CNOP, a federation of Malian farmers' organisations.

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