Mali needs 56,000 tonnes of cereals to build its food security stock
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Mali needs 56,000 tonnes of cereals, 16,000 tonnes of livestock feed and a few hundred tonnes of seeds worth 22 billion CFA francs to build its food safety stock in 2020.
Speaking at a working session in Bamako on Tuesday, Agriculture minister Moulaye Ahmed Boubacar said that the state has mobilised 15 billion CFA francs for the food stock. (US$1.00=CFAF 600)
He explained that these needs have arisen from a number of constraints faced during the last agricultural season, including attacks by granivorous birds in the Sahelian area, insecurity, floods and late arrival of rains in some parts of the country.
"These constraints have led the government to take urgent action. It is true that the record of the previous campaign is good, but there are pockets that challenge us today in the central and northern part of the country, in the Sahel region," the minister of agriculture said.
The meeting, which took place behind closed doors, provided the Malian Prime Boubou Cissé, technical and financial partners (TFP) and members of the Malian government, with an update on the food and nutrition security needs for TFP and measures taken in the context of coronavirus prevention by the ministry of health.
The minister of agriculture announced that a meeting on the national food security stock will be held in the coming days, to which the office of the commissioner for food security and all stakeholders involved in the food and nutritional system will be invited.
-0- PANA GT/JSG/BBA/MA 25March2020
