ICRAF/SAHEL GLDC-FP3-3.13 Components Report, 2019

Abstract

In the first year of the project, Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals (GLDC), surveys were carried out to assess the diversity of household diets in 3 sites of a Dutch funded program named Dryland development program (DryDev) implemented in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali and coordinated by ICRAF. The results revealed the lack of diversity in the household diet as the main cause of malnutrition in these regions. Based on these results, crop diversification came out strongly as a pathway for reducing nutrition insecurity. Therefore, two complementary topics were suggested to help coping with malnutrition issues, including (1) Complementarity of three main farming components (crop-tree-livestock) for improved household nutrition and (2) Co-design GLDC options for improving farmers' nutrition, livelihoods and agro-ecosystem resilience. An additional study was conducted to determine the effects of contour bunding with woody and herbaceous vegetation on soil water infiltration. This is the report of protocols carried out in 2019 in Yorosso district in Mali on small household fruit and vegetable tree garden, multi-location trials for designing suitable crops and the effects of contour bunding on soil water infiltration rate.