RESULT STORIES
       Global Index Insurance
       Facility | GIIF                                                                     MALI
Featuring Bintou Diakite, founding President of
ASEDEFE-YDADE.
As a GIIF partner for the development of index insurance
in Mali, PlaNet Guarantee has implemented a range of
authorized index insurance solutions responding to the
demand of agricultural producers for access to drought-
risk coverage for their rain-fed crops. PlaNet Guarantee
supports agricultural cooperatives in their risk management
strategies by offering climate-related index insurance policies,
as well as providing technical training for their staffs, and
raising awareness of index insurance among their members.
PlaNet Guarantee’s partnership with the cooperative society
ASEDEFE-YDADE (Association pour la Solidarité, l’Entraide, le
Développement Economique de la Femme et de l’Enfant) is
one concrete example of its activities in Mali.


Bintou Diakite is the founding president of ASEDEFE-YDADE.
This organization, designed to support the solidarity, mutual
                                                                  Rural women of the YDADE cooperative.
aid, and economic development of women and children, was
founded in 2006, and in 2013 became a cooperative society, COOP-YDADE. With four years of strong presence among
women and women’s organizations in rural Malian communities, representatives of YDADE have visited almost all of the
farms throughout the agricultural regions of Mali. Female farmers have organized themselves into cooperatives. YDADE
has 35,620 members in Mali, over 75% of which are women. Nearly a fifth of the membership --7,400 members--are
in the Banamba circle, where organic sesame is produced. Although the cooperative is also involved in almost all circles
of the country, with an abundant amount of available land--more than 96,000 hectares--due to lack of funding, barely
500 hectares are currently being utilized.


According to Ms. Diakite, 'YDADE is focused on women and children in the rural areas. We provide assistance to all
female producers, both members and non-members of our network, providing that they accept our conditions. We also
provide assistance to male members of our network in various areas of production and development.'



                                            Global Index Insurance Facility is funded by
RESULT STORIES
Because the economy of Mali is largely undiversified, it is particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in commodity prices,
and to the consequences of climate change. Since 2009 PlaNet Guarantee 'Gueleya Nyesigui' index-based insurance
solutions have been developed in Mali. Initially the crop insurance only covered maize. Later, a multicrop insurance
system was implemented to cover rice, millet, groundnut, and sorghum, and a specific index for sesame was also
developed. Index-based crop insurance now covers the entire territory, and all of the main rain-fed crops in Mali.


YDADE cooperative purchased its first agricultural insurance
for sesame in 2012 through an umbrella organization,
COPROCUMA MALI SUD 3. 'We made this choice because
sesame is our ‘cash cow’ crop, one that requires very little
effort and time, and that generates a lot of income,' says
Ms. Diakite. 'Sesame has a production cycle of only four
to five months, compared to eight to ten months for other
agricultural crops; Therefore the time commitment needed
for sesame is much shorter than for other crops. In addition,
the physical effort required for the maintenance, monitoring,
and harvesting of sesame is less demanding than for all the
other crops.' Today, 1013 hectares and more than 50 million
CFA francs of investments are directly insured by YDADE for
the 2016 campaign.


IMPACT STATEMENT


Because it is a high-price crop that generates cash sales,
raising sesame helps rural women stabilize their income
and break the cycle of poverty. Raising sesame, women and
                                                                    YDADE cooperative President Diakite in a sesame field in the rural
girls can earn as much in one agricultural fiscal year as they      community of Boron.
would have in three or four years of raising other crops.
Consequently, the emigration rate of women and girls out
of rural areas of Mali is decreasing.
During the five years of its agricultural campaign, YDADE suffered minor losses during two seasons: 2011–2012 and
2014–2015. During the 2012–2013 season, due to late rains and an early end of the rains, which resulted in a loss of
80% of the cooperative’s sesame production, the losses were more severe. Fortunately, the insurance coverage was
triggered in February 2013, two months after the official end of the rains.
'On average we have received 60,000 CFA francs per damaged hectare' says Ms. Diakite. 'The payment of claims
premiums was made at an appropriate time, which allowed families to stockpile grain, and provided them with the
financial resources for them to continue living with dignity. Agricultural insurance has set us free from the consequences
of mishaps due to climate disaster.'
It is noteworthy that a hectare of sesame yields on average 75,000 CFA francs. In villages, it normally takes about three
months for a woman to earn that amount of money. In cities, a woman would earn on average 7,500 to 15,000 CFA
francs per month, but with many more tasks. In addition, the more the price of sesame goes up, the more money
women earn: this amount can range from double to quadruple the normal amount of earning power of Malian women.




                                  Global Index Insurance Facility is funded by                                                       2