Yangasso Area Development Programme (ADP) comprises 80 villages
in the Bla District of Mali's Segou Region. The population of the
area is 49,000, made up of Bambara, Minyanka, Bozo and Fulani
ethnic groups.
Income generation
During the dry season, men earn an income from craftwork, cattle
fattening or small-scale businesses. However, many must migrate to
other areas in search of work.
In order to increase household incomes, the ADP promotes women's
income-earning activities, including gardening, soap making and
sewing.Women form economic associations to access credit and learn
bookkeeping skills. In 2000,WorldVision opened a communityoperated
bank which provides loans in Yangasso.
Agriculture
Most people in Yangasso ADP are subsistence farmers, growing
sorghum, millet, corn, rice, beans, peanuts and chillies. Crop
yields are low and many households are short of food for two months
a year.
Yangasso ADP supplies improved seeds, holds workshops in
improved agricultural methods, including composting, and trains
farmers to grow vegetables or raise poultry. The ADP forms disaster
mitigation committees to train farmers to prevent and cope with
disasters such as droughts and insect invasions.
Health
Maternal and infant mortality rates are high in Yangasso ADP.
Nearly 50 per cent of children suffer from some form of
malnutrition. The ADP trains community health workers and birth
attendants, promotes pre-natal care and works to decrease the
number of girls undergoing female genital mutilation (also known as
female circumcision - this involves the removal of some of a girl's
genitalia). World Vision educates mothers about the importance of
hygiene, nutrition, immunisation and oral rehydration for those
with diarrhoea. As levels of HIV/AIDS increase worldwide, Yangasso
ADP promotes awareness, prevention and care for those who live with
HIV/AIDS.
Water
Water is scarce and existing wells are often dry or crumbling.
Water conservation is an important part ofADP activities. Yangasso
ADP works with the community to build and repair wells. It trains
water committees to chlorinate water and repair and maintain
pumps.
Community leadership
Since the early 1990s, Mali's Government has adopted a policy of
decentralisation - transferring authority for education, health,
transport and water to local 'communes'. Yangasso ADP is made up of
five communes.
The ADP trains commune representatives in management skills and
promotes gender equity in these groups. It supplies office
equipment to improve the quality and sustainability of local
government administration.
Education
Not all of Yangasso's children are able to attend school. Some
live too far away from a school while others cannot gain a place in
the overcrowded state schools. Amongst adults the literacy rate is
only 13 per cent. Yangasso ADP helps build classrooms, supplies
study and teaching materials, trains teachers and upskills school
management teams. Literacy teachers trained by the ADP run classes
for adults (especially women) and children.
Faith
In Yangasso ADPWorid Vision partners with the 'Association of
Protestant Churches and Missions in Mali' to support local churches
and train pastors and youth groups.
Conservation
On average each household in the ADP cuts seven donkey carts of
firewood a year (each carries as much as a small trailer), but
plants only three trees. Few households leave fields fallow.
Consequently, the soil is heavily eroded and
nutrient-deficient.
Communities are taught about improved stoves and alternative
fuel.Agro-forestry nurseries are set up and people are taught to
grow seedlings, plant nitrogen-fixing trees and cultivate mixed
crops.
Sustainable development
World Vision and the people of Yangasso envisage that by 20 I I
the community's capacity to access resources for ongoing
development will be at a level that no longer requires World Vision
assistance. We will keep you updated on their progress.
Mali at a glance
Having once been a centre of wealth and culture, Mali now counts
among the poorest countries in the world. In 2010, Mali was ranked
173 out of 177 in the United Nations Human Development Index.
