Food Security Monitoring and Evaluation in Rural Mali: Preliminary Findings

African Sky is a non-profit organization that has been continuously involved in community development efforts in the Sikasso, Koulikoro, and Segou regions of Mali since 2001. To inform these efforts, an assessment of survey and census data was conducted focusing on the rural village of Dissan, in the Sikasso region. During the evaluation period between 2001-2010 Dissan experienced highly variable rainfall. We hypothesized these conditions would negatively impact farming output, and as a result, nutritional status of the people living in Dissan. Our analysis shows that while land use did not change significantly, by household the variety of sorghum crops increased and non-sorghum food crops decreased. Farmers in Dissan are changing crop distribution due to an increased availability of new sorghum seed and in response to a variety of environmental factors.