Baseline data - D3.1

WP3 of the SustainSahel project collects detailed farm household baseline and endline data for two project sites: Koulikouro in Mali and Niakhar in Senegal. This data is mainly used in the context of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to determine the impact of the project interventions related to improved shrub integration. To select farm households for the surveys in both countries, sample size was determined by power calculations. Based on this, a two-stage cluster sampling procedure was applied at both designated project research areas. Initially approximately 80 villages were sampled from 10 communes and subsequently 7 to 9 farm households were sampled from the selected villages. In Mali, WP3 thus collected a representative dataset with 560 farm household observations at the Koulikoro project site. In Senegal WP3 collected a representative dataset with 720 farm household observations at the Niakhar project site. The baseline data indicate that at both sites there is partial use of agroecological practices (rotations, intercropping, improved fallows, agroforestry), but there is also much scope for boosting adoption and improve existing practices. Many respondents indicated awareness and use of agroforestry in some form or another. Use of shrubs is limited to few species and not systematic. In Koulikoro, mainly productivity benefits are perceived from agroforestry, while in Niakhar soil fertility is the most important perceived benefit.