Mali team evinces interest to work with APCNF

Vayalpadu (Annamayya district) : The team from West African country Mali evinced keen interest to work in convergence with Andhra Pradesh Community-managed Natural Farming (APCNF) for implementation of natural farming after discussing with the Mali Agriculture Ministry. The Mali team on Wednesday visited Ayyavaripalli in Vayalpadu mandal, interacted with women and enquired about the transformation process where 171 farmers converted to natural farming practice in the village.

The team also asked for the benefits of the natural farming practices and especially the impact of natural farming food on pregnant women and lactating mothers through health and nutrition intervention. The women leaders said that during the COVID pandemic situation there were no deaths in the village as all consumed the food prepared by natural farming producers. The team then visited the field of Savitri, who is working as mentor and raised an A grade model upgraded to five-layer model (Integrated Horticulture model) and ATM (Any Time Money) model. The team also visited the vegetable model in the mango field of K Swathi, working as Level 1 community cadre. The team also visited the kitchen gardens maintained by the poorest of the poor people in the same village.

The team also interacted with the Self-Help Group members and village organisation office-bearers in the village and understood the role of women collectives in the implementation of APCNF. Under the leadership of Hassane Tolo, programme manager of the National Directorate of Agriculture (DNA) of the Ministry of Agriculture of Mali, Laya Kansaye, Professor at the Rural Polytechnic Institute of Training and Applied Research of Mali (IPR/IFRA), Ramadan Sylla, responsible for agroecology of the National Coordination of Peasant Organisations of Mali (CNOP) and Pedagogical Manager of the International Training Centre for Agroecology Niélény. Alou Keita, President of CAMIDE, a Malian NGO involved in PAESOL implementation by a co-financed agro ecology project in Kayes region, Mohamed Soumare, National Technical Director of PAESOL, Stefano Capotorti, AHT Head of PAESOL technical assistance team, Jennifer Provost (Canadian Nationality, AHT Employee since 2022) participated in the programme.

Samuel Anand, Executive Director, Rythu Sadhikara Samstha, Siva Reddy, Administrative Officer, IGGAARL and Sohail, Thematic Point Person accompanied the Mali team.