Challenges and opportunities for agro-pastoral livestock smallholders in Mali

This paper reports on an in-depth assessment of smallholder livestock production in rainfed agro-pastoral communities of Mali through an analysis of data from 36 case studies. Approximately 1,108 farmers were involved, with two-thirds of the case studies focusing on ruminant production and the remainder dealing with cooperative capacity building. Feeding and forage-related needs were the most frequently assessed in the case studies involving smallholders raising small ruminants or cattle, whereas organization-related needs were the most frequently assessed in those involving smallholder livestock cooperatives. Meeting the feed and forage requirements of small ruminants and cattle is the most urgent need for livestock smallholders, but addressing this challenge will be difficult without concurrent control of the breeding season and common diseases as well as implementation of appropriate methods to track and cull unproductive animals. Empowerment of grass-roots organizations, particularly women's cooperatives, through literacy programmes and effective extension outreach could have significant impacts on the improvement of smallholder livestock enterprises.