Mali - Drylands Development Project

Overview & Synopsis

Ratings of the Mali Drylands Development Project for Mali were as follows: outcome was satisfactory, Bank performance was satisfactory, and M&E quality was substantial. Lessons learned emphasized that combining agricultural support with targeted social protection through a sequenced graduation approach yields stronger and more inclusive results than either instrument alone; future operations should stabilize consumption first, then provide productive grants, and use robust targeting through the social registry and proxy means testing to reach the most vulnerable while limiting elite capture. In customary land-tenure contexts, high female participation does not guarantee equitable access to productive assets; operations should include explicit, enforceable provisions that secure women’s land and asset rights, track asset quality and tenure security, and ensure women’s representation in land and asset decision-making bodies. Implementation in fragility, conflict, and violence settings requires adaptive arrangements; projects should embed flexibility at design by including contingency mechanisms such as a CERC, allowing timely restructuring and resource reallocation, and adjusting delivery modalities to evolving climate, security, and operating conditions. Monitoring systems should serve both results measurement and adaptive risk management; future projects should maintain geo-referenced beneficiary tracking and expand indicators to capture FCV-relevant outcomes such as social cohesion, perceptions of inclusion, citizen–state interaction, and resilience to repeated shocks to inform evidence-based, real-time adjustments.