A mission to improve the Mali livestock system

USAID-Mali has identified an overall goal to “improve the productivity and income of the producers in Mali by enabling them to access technologies and build the capacity of all actors involved in the development of an extensive livestock system”.  To meet this goal, USAID-Mali has outlined these specific objectives:

1. Promote the development of the extensive livestock sector,
2. Empower pastoralists and improve their capacity for risk management,
3. Create equitable livestock information and communication systems that provide monitoring and analysis technology to foster strategic partnerships between pastoral communities, markets, and policy,
4. Markets development and integration,
5. Build capacity of Mali to sustain the new techniques and technologies.

To meet this overall goal and the specific objectives, the Mali Livestock and Pastoralist Initiative project was initiated in 2008.  The project is led by Texas AgriLife Research with US partners that include Syracuse University, University of Arizona, University of Wisconsin, and South Dakota State University.  Government and educational partner organizations in Mali include Observatoire du Marche Agricole (OMA), Direction Nationale des Productions et des Industries Animales (DNPIA), Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER), and l’Institut Polytechnique Rural (IPR).