Cowpea Seed Innovation Platform: A Hope for Small Seed Producers in Mali

Abstract

Cowpea is a food crop of great importance to the people of Mali due to its contribution to food security, improvement of producers’ incomes, a price that is higher than that of cereals, and an important role in social relationships. However, the availability of good quality seeds is a major constraint to its production and productivity. As seeds are the key input in agriculture, an innovation platform has been established at the Cinzana Agronomic Research Station in May 2016 to improve the production and distribution of cowpea seeds in Mali. It brings together farmers, distributors, transporters, financial and technical services, and NGOs. This ensures greater sharing of information and knowledge among the different actors involved in the cowpea seed value chain. Two bodies of governance were set up: Program Planning Committee and Executive Office. Significant results have been achieved in three years of existence: the number of varieties used has increased from 5 to 12. The amount of foundation seeds produced annually has increased from 1 t to more than 20 t. The sales strategy in small packs proved very effective by reaching more farmers. Promotional activities involved 25 training sessions for 1097 farmers in different aspects of the value chain and 299 demonstrations, involving 2934 producers and benefiting 12193 farmers.