ACTION - Targeted Support for Irrigated Land and Nutrition Opportunities

Alongside its partners BETICO sarl and CES Consulting Engineers Salzgitter GmbH, Dorsch Impact is implementing the following activities:

Infrastructure & Engineering Component

• Mobilising and organising beneficiary communities through participatory planning processes in coordination with local authorities and decentralised technical services

• Organising and managing tenders for feasibility studies, engineering design (including environmental assessments), construction and rehabilitation works, and supply contracts, including preparation of tender documents, evaluation, and contract award

• Constructing and/or rehabilitating 77 hydro-agricultural infrastructures (AHA), including micro-dams, water-spreading weirs, and dam-bridges (total irrigation potential: 2,355 ha)

• Developing 77 market garden schemes with solar pumping (154 ha) and 616 large-diameter wells

• Building complementary infrastructure: 96 km of rural roads and 8 storage warehouses

• Implementing environmental protection and anti-erosion measures across approximately 800 ha (reforestation, stone barriers, windbreaks, water and soil conservation techniques)

• Supporting fish farming development at 29 micro-dam sites (ponds, floating cages, smoking ovens)

• Designing and implementing a Remote Management, Monitoring and Verification (RMMV) system using satellite and drone imagery to track construction progress and agricultural results

Accompanying Measures & Valorisation Component

• Supplying agricultural and fish farming inputs and equipment to beneficiary producers

• Structuring, capacity-building, and supporting water user associations, dam management committees, and farmer cooperative societies in administrative, financial, and operational management

• Providing training and advisory services in agricultural and fish farming production, processing, and marketing, including through farmer field schools

• Raising awareness among 2,280 women on malnutrition risks, health and hygiene, and crop diversification

• Integrating agroecological approaches into all accompanying measures

• Implementing pilot fish farming methods in small dam reservoirs and developing land-use operating agreements

Technical Assistance to the PNIP Secretariat (STP-PNIP)

• Supporting the harmonisation of procedures across small-scale irrigation projects in Mali

• Advising on financial coordination, progress reporting, and M&E system development at sub-sector level

• Providing technical assistance to the Direction Nationale du Génie Rural (DNGR), the STP-PNIP, and coordinating bodies including the CNOS and CTRC

• Supporting capitalisation of project experiences, communication, and visibility activities

Impact

• The project is designed to benefit 16,150 producers, of whom at least 4,850 are women (30%), directly improving their economic, food, and nutritional security.

• Annual production targets include approximately 2,280 tonnes of paddy rice and 32,900 tonnes of market garden produce, strengthening food systems across three of Mali's key agricultural regions.

• Through the construction and rehabilitation of 77 hydro-agricultural infrastructures unlocking 2,355 ha of irrigated potential, the project makes a measurable, long-term contribution to agricultural productivity and rural income generation.

• The project advances climate resilience through anti-erosion measures, reforestation, and the adoption of agroecological practices, equipping smallholder communities to better withstand environmental shocks.

• By embedding gender equity as a structural principle through minimum land-use quotas for women, inclusive training, and targeted nutritional awareness campaigns, the project contributes to the empowerment of women and youth as drivers of sustainable rural development.

• Institutional support to the PNIP Secretariat and coordinating bodies strengthens governance and systemic capacity within Mali's small-scale irrigation sector, ensuring impacts extend well beyond the project's duration