Grow the Farmer. Feed the Planet: Meet Amély Fanta Diallo
In less than two years, Amély Fanta Diallo became the first woman producer of quality aquaculture feed in Mali. She became a farmer entrepreneur because of her passion for aquaculture.
Diallo: “I installed my first fish-ponds 4 years ago in the Niamana zone, 30 km from Bamako. However, I quickly realized that producing fish would not be profitable because of the high cost of imported feed.”
Rather than being discouraged, this 47 year old saw this as a business opportunity and set out to find a solution for producing quality feed using locally available ingredients.
With support in equipment and training from ICCO’s Jege-Ni-Jaba project, Amély was able to set-up a granulated aquaculture feed production line. “I was first able to feed my own fish but soon I had other fish farmers buying my product. I’m now ready to sell under my own brand “FOLOFOLO”, meaning “THE FIRST” in Bambara”.
About the Jege ni Jaba project
The Jege ni Jaba project is a 5-year joint venture between ICCO Cooperation and the Canadian company SNC Lavalin, financed by the Dutch embassy in Mali. With this project, that started in January 2015, ICCO Cooperation improves the nutritional quality of food in the regions of Mopti, Segou and Bamako. We use the ‘Making Markets Work for the Poor’ (M4P) approach in order to increase the income of 12,500 Malian farmers and improve the efficiency of water use in Malian agriculture.