Farmers in Mali are facing the twin threats of declining soil fertility and increasing climate variability, which undermine food security and rural livelihoods. Traditional farming methods are no longer sufficient to cope with erratic rainfall and temperature extremes. While innovative climate-smart practices exist, smallholder farmers often lack the financing, training, and market access needed to adopt them.

Dalberg partnered with international development agencies and local stakeholders to design a climate resilience initiative tailored to Mali’s agricultural communities. We assessed systemic barriers to adoption, identified opportunities for public–private collaboration, and built investment cases for scaling regenerative farming practices. The initiative is now informing policy and donor programs that strengthen smallholder resilience, enhance productivity, and safeguard ecosystems in one of the region’s most vulnerable to climate change.