AGRA

The collaboration between Pula Advisors and AGRA, with support from the ILO ACCEL Africa project, gathered key stakeholders to discuss and drive forward innovative agricultural insurance solutions that will enhance productivity, resilience, and access to markets.

October 18, 2024 – Agriculture is the backbone of Mali’s economy, contributing over 36% of the GDP and employing 80% of the workforce. However, farmers face numerous challenges, including limited access to financing, low levels of mechanization, and the increasing impact of climate change. The collaboration between AGRA and PULA Advisors directly addresses these challenges by promoting innovative agricultural insurance systems, designed to help farmers better manage risk and improve their productivity.

Pula Advisors, with a grant from AGRA, is leading the implementation of an insurance system that uses satellite data, historical information, and on-the-ground inputs to support small-scale irrigation farmers. The project aims to enable farmers to access credit, adopt innovative farming practices, and strengthen climate resilience, particularly through the use of water pumps. This initiative also seeks to reduce the need for emergency funding from donors and governments, creating a more sustainable framework for agricultural development in Mali.

As Amadou Bocar explained, “This project is part of a program that mobilizes stakeholders by creating an ecosystem. The project approach has shown its limitations, and now we are fostering the creation of synergies and mutualization so that the impact is more strongly felt by producers, who are at the center of our approach”.

A key component of this initiative is its alignment with the ILO ACCEL Africa project, which focuses on eliminating child labor in the cotton value chain. In regions like Sikasso and Koulikoro, where many cotton producers also grow maize, the collaboration between Pula Advisors and ACCEL Africa amplifies the impact on improving farmer livelihoods while ensuring interventions do not inadvertently increase child labor.

The agricultural sector’s importance in Mali was echoed by Dr. Mouhamed Diarra, Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Agriculture: “The agricultural sector is the foundation of Mali’s economy, employing 80% of the active population and contributing 35% to the country’s GDP. However, numerous challenges persist, including a financing deficit and the effects of climate change.” The project’s agricultural insurance initiative aims to directly address these challenges by providing farmers with the tools they need to thrive.

Dr. Pierre Sagara, Pula’s Country Manager, also emphasized the critical role of government support in bringing this initiative to life: “We are here today thanks to the Food Security Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture, which have worked for two years to make this agricultural insurance project a reality. Agriculture remains the backbone of our economy, contributing 40% of our GDP.”

The workshop in Bamako successfully brought together key players from Pula Advisors, AGRA, ILO, and various national and regional agricultural bodies. It served as a platform to clarify the project’s implementation approach and to secure commitments from stakeholders. This collective effort will ensure that the project has a lasting and meaningful impact on Mali’s smallholder farmers, providing them with much-needed resilience against climate risks and enabling them to access the financial resources necessary for sustainable growth.

The AGRA-PULA collaboration represents a forward-thinking solution to some of the most pressing issues facing Mali’s agricultural sector, and the momentum from this workshop promises to drive long-term success for farmers in the region.