Near East Foundation

People We Serve

Samba Diallo

Testimony of an operator of a microirrigation scheme in the village of Déri in the rural area of Djaptodji near Douentza

My name is Samba Diallo; I’m 55 years old, married, and the father of 7 children. I’m a son of the village of Déri in Djaptoji. I am also now president of the planning committee for the microirrigation project of the MIG 2 group here (there are three MIGs managed by three different groups).

Until 1994, I was satisfied with the few crops that can be cultivated in dry climates—notably millet, which we grow on top of the dunes. With the scarcity and poor division of rainwater, my annual millet production over the past twenty years rarely exceeded a ton; this didn’t allow me to meet the needs of my family for more than 3 of 4 months at most. In order to bring in enough food, I often had to leave my children for months at a time to go work in Mopti or Bamako.

Twenty years ago, Deri was the most deficient in grain of all the villages in the Djaptiodji region (which includes 62 villages in total). In 1994, NEF, with the goal of helping the village adapt to climate conditions that are getting more and more difficult every year, proposed that we develop a micro area of 6 hectares originally; a second of 6 hectares in 1996, a 3^rd of 8 hectares in 1998 and finally the extension of a the whole developed area into a 42-hectare plot in 2004. Thanks to this, my village has become the most productive in the region; we grow more than 250 tons of rice annually, and now we’re even attracting a lot of laborers from elsewhere in Mali.

For my own part, I now have parcels of land that now total about 1 hectare, in which I grow more than 6 tons of rice annually. After 5 years, I grow more than enough food for my family: I don’t have to travel to find work, and I can afford to buy my own animals and agricultural supplies (carts, plows, etc.) with the proceeds from my excess rice. I’m not rich, but I have everything I need to maintain a good life for my family.

Today, thanks to NEF, we are well organized in cultivating our village’s agricultural land and trained in infrastructure management and stocks. The impact of this training is visible in all parts of the village: tools, vehicles, animals, etc.—all things that would have been a dream 20 years ago. We have also noticed with great satisfaction the reinforcement of social ties between inhabitants of the village and its neighbors.

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