IER Institute of Rural Economy

In Mali, the Institute of Rural Economy (IER) is a Public Scientific, Technical and Cultural Establishment (EPSTC), endowed with financial autonomy. IER's mandate is to improve agricultural, pastoral and aquaculture production and productivity for food security and sovereignty as well as for the preservation of human health and biodiversity in Mali. It proceeds to the development of appropriate technologies for increasing production and improving the productivity of the rural world. It also contributes to the training and scientific and technical information of research and development personnel.

The IER, in its permanent quest for responses to the constraints encountered by the rural world, has always evolved in synergy with the technical services, the rural world supervisory bodies and the teaching/research establishments (the Universities of Bamako, the Rural Polytechnic Institute of Katibougou, the Central Veterinary Laboratory and the National Centers for Agricultural Research and Scientific and Technological Research). Agricultural development objectives are essentially oriented towards improving food security, conserving natural resources and combating desertification, developing and diversifying agricultural production and improving farmers' incomes.

The IER operates with 17 research programs (millet, sorghum, lowland rice, irrigated rice, maize, cowpea, groundnut, cotton, fruits and vegetables, cattle, small ruminants, poultry, forest resources, fishery resources, production and management of natural resources, economy of sectors, and agricultural machinery) distributed in six (6) Regional Agricultural Research Centers (CRRA) by creating regional scientific portfolios according to local potential.

The programs concerned (cotton, lowland rice, sorghum, fruits and vegetables) deal with varietal selection, agronomy and phytosanitary protection.