At the height of the crop preparation season, agricultural cooperatives in the Ségou, Sikasso and Koutiala regions have just received substantial logistical support under the West African Food System Resilience Programme (PRSA-Mali).
On Wednesday 16 April 2025, the Minister for Agriculture, Daniel Siméon Kelema, presided over a ceremony at which 235 power tillers and their accessories were handed over to farmers in these regions, in the presence of several key figures from the agricultural sector.
The grant, financed by the World Bank, is aimed at improving agricultural productivity in a country where agriculture remains the mainstay of the national economy, employing more than 70% of the working population.
The three beneficiary areas of Ségou, Sikasso and Koutiala represent major agricultural basins for growing rice and maize, two essential commodities in the fight against food insecurity. For Minister Kelema, this allocation marks a significant step forward in the agricultural mechanisation policy: "The motor cultivator represents a compromise between animal traction and the tractor. It is more affordable and easier to handle, making it a tool that is well suited to the family farms that dominate our agricultural landscape.
The Minister pointed out that this gesture was in line with the vision of the President of the Transition, who has made the modernisation of the agricultural sector a central plank of the Agricultural Orientation Law and the Agricultural Development Policy.
The government is banking on mechanisation to boost production, improve yields and reduce the drudgery of agricultural work. FSRP-Mali is a regional programme supported by the World Bank to the tune of $60 million over five years. It aims to strengthen the resilience of food systems in several countries in the West African sub-region, while responding to the growing threats posed by climate shocks and food crises. In addition to the equipment, the PRSA-Mali is rolling out a range of structural initiatives: mechanical restoration of 4,000 hectares of degraded land, development of 1,000 hectares of low-lying areas, creation of 50 hectares of market garden areas, not forgetting the free distribution of 4,360 tonnes of agricultural seed and the subsidised sale of 15,000 tonnes of chemical fertilisers (DAP and NPK), as well as 8,564 tonnes of organic fertilisers. The choice of the power tiller is also explained by its ability to rapidly transform farmers' daily lives. Less expensive than a tractor and easier to manoeuvre in small plots, the power tiller meets the needs of rural Malian farms, which are often small and family-run. It makes working the soil easier, speeds up cultivation operations and improves responsiveness to climatic hazards. The ceremony on 16 April was not just about handing over a batch of equipment. It symbolised a clear desire to break away from subsistence farming and move into an era of sustainable, resilient production that is better integrated into regional economic dynamics.
