IFAD in Mali

Since 1982 IFAD has financed 10 rural development programmes and projects in Mali, investing a total of US$128.9 million and working in partnership with the Government of Mali to reduce rural poverty.  Three programmes are currently ongoing:  the Sahelian Areas Development Fund Programme, the Northern Regions Investment and Rural Development Programme and the Kidal Integrated Rural Development Programme.

IFAD has also financed several technical assistance grants supporting national and subregional programmes in Mali.

IFAD has been designated by the Government of Mali as the lead agency for donors operating in the north of the country. The Northern Regions Investment and Rural Development Programme is IFAD’s  first intervention in this role.

IFAD is also signatory to a four-party agreement, drawn up in 1994, that involves Mali, Algeria, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, for the repatriation and socio-economic reintegration of displaced persons. The agreement was drawn up in the wake of the social unrest that occurred in northern Mali.

IFAD’s strategy in Mali

IFAD’s country strategic opportunities programme (COSOP) for Mali draws on the IFAD Strategic Framework 2007–2010. The aim of the country programme is to improve the living conditions of poor rural people, particularly agro-pastoralists, small farmers, livestock breeders and fishers.

The COSOP is in alignment with Mali’s Strategic Framework for Growth and Poverty Reduction (CSCRP) 2007–2011, and with the framework’s objective of improving living standards and food security. The country programme has a special focus on the Sahelian and Sahelo-Saharan zones, which are priority intervention areas for the government and also are areas in which IFAD has extensive experience. 

The COSOP’s strategic objectives are to:

increase and diversify agricultural production to improve household food security and encourage the building up of assets in the chronically food-deficit areas of the Sahelian belt and northern Mali

• improve the quality of basic social services such as health and literacy services, improve access to those services, and improve management of the services by local authorities and users’ associations, working in collaboration with IFAD’s  strategic partners, particularly the Belgian Survival Fund 
• develop and strengthen the capacity of farmers’ organizations to deliver technical and financial services to producers and enhance their participation in local development processes  

The principles that guide IFAD’s strategy in Mali are:

• participation and accountability of participants
• systematic efforts towards harmonization with local government institutions and processes
• partnership and complementarity with technical and financial development partners
• capitalization on lessons learned
• prevention and mitigation of potential conflicts

Source: IFAD

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Voir la version française Ongoing IFAD operations Kidal Integrated Rural Development Programme Northern Regions Investment and Rural Development Programme Sahelian Areas Development Fund Programme Statistics Projects: 10 Total cost: US$287.0 million Total loan amount: US$128.9 million Directly benefitting: 219,303 households Contact information Mr Leopold Sarr Country programme manager IFAD Via Paolo Di Dono, 44 00142 Rome, Italy Tel: +39 0654592126 Fax: +39 0654593126 l.sarr@ifad.org