Finding Hope in Farming (Mali)

After years of searching far and wide through the West African frontiers for money-making opportunities, Mr Able Traore has met fortune in the last place he expected: his farm.

Traore, 65, used up most of his youthful years traveling across borders to make a quick buck selling everything from jewelry to soap to fend for his 22 children. He had to make extra money to purchase food and supplement what was harvested from his piece of land located outside of Bamako city in Mali.

Advancing age finally forced him to retire from his job as a traveling salesman. But, still, he had to find a steady source of income. This led him to take a second look at his small farm.

In his youthful days it had served as a secondary source of income. Given its low yield, there was not much incentive to expend energy on it.

“In those days, the government did not give any considerations to farmers, we could not even meet our needs,” Traore says.

But ten years after retiring from sales, Traore is now smiling all the way to the bank. Two years ago he was introduced to Faso Kaba Seed Company in Mali by a farmer neighbor, whose successful yields had created a buzz in the village.

The improved seeds he receives from Faso Kaba have increased his harvests by 50 per cent in two years.

Faso Kaba, is a small, but rapidly growing Malian Seed Company producing and delivering affordable and quality seeds to rural Mali and educating farmers about improved seed and use of other farm inputs.

“If I had known what I know now, I would not have left the country for any other place. I wish that all my kids become farmers. Farming is the most pleasant job you can do in Mali,” Traore says.

Commenting on the role of effective seed systems, PASS Director Dr Joseph DeVries says that the breakthrough in Traore’s life is mirrored in many countries across Africa where average yields of staple foods are beginning to rise following recent breakthroughs in creating high yielding seeds and making them accessible to farmers.

Published October 2009