ABSTRACT
In Douentza, one of the eight cercles in Mali, agriculture and livestock breeding constitute the main economic activities of the local population of approximately 248,000 people. USC Canada's Seeds of Survival (SoS) programme has been working with farming communities in the region since 1993 to reinforce the resilience of small farmers, both male and female, in their fight against food insecurity and to improve their livelihoods. The community gene and seed banks were organized out of a growing awareness among farming communities of the need to preserve their genetic heritage, which was threatened with extinction by climate change effects and insufficient and irregular rainfall. The SoS programme works in partnership with other organizations from the subregion such as Biodiversite Echanges et Diffusion d'Experiences, Coordination Nationale des Organisations Paysannes du Mali, Coalition pour la Protection du Patrimoine Genetique Africain and the climate change network of Mali.
