RA 00048.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

ence for a normally expanding population while
conserving the fertility level of the soil.
The Basic Extension Service
The basic organizational structure of the extension
service has evolved little since it was restructured
in 1960. In effect, it was at that time that the
Malian Government, drawing from experience
gained by the agricultural service over many years
of evaluation marked by success and failure,
decided to substitute a system of close supervision
for the old system.
Up to that time, extension programs were
carried out with a "spread supervision" system,
that is to say, one supervising agent who was
responsible for only one crop for 20 000-30 000
inhabitants.
• The "Zone d'Expansion Rurale" (ZER)
With the new structure, the ZER became the
organizational unit actually carrying out extension
activities. It covered 15 000 to 20 000
inhabitants and it cannot cut across two administrative
boundaries ("arrondissements"). The
ZER, made up of many "base units" (Secteurs
de Base, S.B.), administered by a technical
agent who in addition to directing and controlling
the activities at the S.B. level, plays the role
of moral leader, seeing to it that the modernization
efforts fit perfectly with the land and
people.
• The Basic Units (S.B.)
The S.B. is the basic unit for extension activities.
The size can vary with local conditions but
this is limited by the ability to have close
contact between the extension agents and the
farmers, and the necessity that this contact
take place at the farm level. S.B.s normally
have between 2000 and 3000 inhabitants
representing 1000 to 1500 ha of cropped land.
Intervention Modes
To reach the project's objectives, modernization
which will bring to the rural masses (populations)
the possibility of social and economic development,
must be realized.
For a long time the fundamental question of
modernization in African agriculture was posed in
terms of increasing only the productivity of the
soil, that is to say yields/unit area. Animal traction
was considered as an easy means to extend the
cultivated area without increasing yields.
This perspective resulted from a sectorial view
of things that would not be admissible today
because diverse means and techniques are used
in a necessarily interdependent way to improve
the entire production system. As a result, the
question is posed today in terms of raising
productivity of diverse production factors (land,
water, labor, and equipment). In many cases,
most notably in the project zone, modernization of
the farm enterprise brought about an increase in
farmer income which in turn encouraged savings
which favored further investment.
The necessity of relying on one cash crop to
justify the effort was understood early and it was
naturally cotton which was seen as the lever
which the extension services needed to motivate
this modernization. Cotton when grown with
traditional methods only gives meager returns but
it is very sensitive to improvements in cultural
practices. It permitted farmers to equip themselves
with farm machinery, animals, and undertake
investments such as mineral fertilizers and
phyto-sanitary treatments.
A farmer's efforts which favor his cotton field
necessarily help his other crops: millet and
sorghum which benefit from residual effects of
fertilizers, plowing and weeding of cereal crop are
carried out with animal traction equipment, etc.
Thus, the farmer generally raises his productive
potential and his resource base. A considerable
extension effort was necessary to get the farmer
started and to make him discontinue the traditional
methods.
The conceptualization of extension themes took
note of two essential facts:
(i) That it was necessary to respect a good
balance of crops,
(ii) That it was necessary to respect the agricultural
calendar.
A Good Balance of Crops
Mali has about 2 million ha where permanent
rainfed agriculture is practiced on small holdings
of less than 5 ha (1.8 million ha). About 9 0 % of
this area is in cereals and the rest in cash crops
(cotton and peanuts). In the last few years, cash
crop production, most notably cotton, has been
increased considerably. Normal cereal production
is estimated at 1.2 million tonnes per year while
during the years of the great drought, 1972-74,
the level was limited to 0.8 million tonnes. It
510