Public Notice 

Targeted Support for Irrigated Lands and Opportunities for Nutrition – Public Comments Invited 

July 16 2025 – Global Affairs Canada must determine whether the proposed initiativeTargeted Support for Irrigated Lands and Opportunities for Nutrition, located in Mali is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects. 

To help inform this determination, Global Affairs Canada is inviting comments from the public respecting that determination. All comments received will be considered public and may be posted online. 

Written comments must be submitted by August 15 2025 to: 

Environment Specialists  

Global Affairs Canada  

200 Promenade du Portage 
Gatineau (QC) J8X 4B7 

Email:CommentsIAARegistry-CommentairesRegistreLEI@international.gc.ca 

  

The Proposed Project:

The Targeted Support for Irrigated Lands and Nutrition Opportunities (ACTION) project aims to improve and sustain economic, food, and nutritional security for poor rural populations (particularly women and youth) engaged in small-scale irrigation in the project's intervention areas in Mali. The project is implemented by two German agencies, KfW and GIZ, and operates in areas within the Koulikoro, Mopti, and Kayes regions. 

Project activities include: 

1. Developing and rehabilitating agricultural infrastructure in accordance with environmental standards and addressing gender-specific challenges; 

1. Constructing or rehabilitating complementary hydro-agricultural infrastructure for women and youth; 

1. Providing agricultural equipment and inputs, particularly to women and youth; 

1. Training producers—mainly women and youth—in sustainable, diversified, and nutrition-sensitive agricultural, fish farming, and livestock production techniques; 

1. Training and raising awareness among producers—primarily women and youth—on community equipment and agricultural inputs adapted to climate change impacts. 

Through its financial component, the project plans to construct 69 hydro-agricultural developments (HADs), including 59 HADs built or rehabilitated, 10 spreading thresholds, and 616 large-diameter wells equipped with water-lifting systems. The initiative also includes the construction of a dam-bridge in Bandiagara (75 ha potentially irrigable for 4 villages with a population of 27,981), storage facilities, and rural roads. Expected annual production includes approximately 2,280 tonnes of paddy rice and 30,690 tonnes of horticultural products, produced by 16,150 farmers, including 4,845 women (30%). 

The main intervention areas are: 

• Koulikoro Region: Koulikoro, Banamba, Kati, Dioïla, and Kolokani districts, and the Mandé area (Siby, Bancoumana, and Kangaba district) 

• Kayes Region: Kita, Diéma, and Nioro du Sahel districts 

• Mopti Region: Bandiagara district 

KfW is responsible for constructing or rehabilitating 77 HADs covering 2,355 ha, as well as complementary HADs for women and youth (totaling 154 ha, including 2 ha of irrigated vegetable plots and 8 large-diameter wells per site—616 wells in total). In total, 2,509 ha of land will be developed or rehabilitated. All wells will be equipped with water-lifting systems. Other agricultural assets such as storage facilities and rural roads will also be developed. 

Additionally, KfW, in collaboration with GIZ and Mali's National Directorate of Agriculture, provides technical assistance to strengthen beneficiaries' capacities in infrastructure management, including environmental studies, production activities, and value addition of products from small-scale irrigation during the first three agricultural seasons following the full implementation of each agricultural infrastructure. 

For all agricultural infrastructure to be developed or rehabilitated, Environmental and Social Notices (ESNs) are prepared in accordance with Mali's Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Decree, prior to any development or construction of storage facilities and rural roads. An Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) is included in each ESN. 

Projects subject to the impact assessment include: 

• Construction or rehabilitation of 77 hydro-agricultural developments (HADs) covering 2,355 ha 

• Construction of 8 large-diameter wells per developed site (616 wells in total) 

• Construction of 8 storage and preservation facilities 

• Construction of 96 km of rural roads 

• Construction of a dam-bridge in Bandiagara