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Technical Trainings

Agent Profile: Assitan Traore

Assitan used to be a rice farmer. Now, after getting her degree in geography, she is a myAgro vegetable agent. This means she trains our vegetable farmers and is part of our pilot project to grow more vegetables in the Sahel.

Assitan is responsible for training 35 farmers spread across 4 villages in Southern Mali. Over half are women and they are working on growing tomatoes, okra, cabbage, hot peppers and onions in a region that normally sees only maize and peanut crops. That means lots of experimenting: trying out new types of seedbeds and fertilizer, new transplanting techniques, using organic pesticides and other innovations.

We asked Assitan what her daily work looks like: most days, she finds herself in one of her villages, working with the farmers in their gardens, giving group trainings and demonstrations, or going door-to-door to build up her relationship with the farmers she is responsible for. It is hard and hot work, but Assitan says she never gives up and is motivated by the positive results she is seeing.

We also asked Assitan to recommend one thing our blog readers should be introduced to. Her response? The music of Mali’s own Abdoulaye Diabaté, which is really nice to listen to if you are weeding or planting your fields!