Pivot wheat production Applicant Comptoir Export des Matieres Premieres and local partner Les Grands Moulins Du Mali SA will set up a joint venture employing 35 staff to produce wheat in the north of Mali, using a 50 ha pivot scheme. The joint venture will also include 800 outgrowers, growing 1,095 ha of wheat in the Diré and Goundam area (region Timbuktu). The crop will be cultivated with "conservation agriculture" techniques. Yields are supposed to be much higher compared to the traditional cultivation. The local partner is the main importer of wheat in Mali and secures the sales of the joint venture.Large follow-up investments are foreseen by the partners.Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)Les Grands Moulins Du Mali SA has been involved in the formulation of a CSR chapter on a summit of French/African companies. It has used this document as a basis for the formulation of their Code of Conduct. This Code of Conduct will form the basis for the CSR policy document to be formalised by Les Grands Moulins Du Mali SA as well as the new joint venture. Main chapters are: relation with employees and measures taken on the protection of the environment.Besides the Code of Conduct, the joint venture will also built and organise grain banks to secure the availability of grains for the local population the whole year around.Impact•	Employment and working conditionsThe total number of staff employed will be 45; four high-level, 11 medium-level and 28 basic-level employees.The minimum wage is CFA 28,465 per month. This is about 43 euro whereas the least paid employee – labourers – will receive CFA 50,000 which corresponds with 76 euro.Obviously, the joint venture will also provide a required package of benefits, including social security and health care.Free lunches and drinks will be provided to the employees in a canteen with a separate part for women to take care of their children.Medical costs not covered by the medical insurance, school fees, school uniforms and the like will be paid for in total or partially for those connected to the project who cannot afford these.Free transport service.HIV/AIDS training will be provided to all employees.Free contraceptives will be made available.•	Innovation / Transfer of knowledgePivot Agriculture is high-tech and this requires extensive knowledge transfer. Staff will need to be able to operate the machinery and cultivate the land extensively. In doing so, staff will gain an understanding of large-scale mechanised food production and understand the high efficiency in which land is used to produce food and the lower environmental impact caused by sustainable use of agrochemicals, soil and energy.In addition, extension workers will work together with the outgrower farmers to increase the efficiency, quantity and quality of wheat being sown and grown by outgrowers. Since wheat is well known, it will be in a participatory manner in which innovation in wheat cultivation emerges from interaction rather than imposition.•	Chain effectsThis project will establish a solid production chain for wheat, from inputs for farming to sales to consumers. Beneficiaries will be the milling industry that will be able to source locally, at reduced cost and with reduced risk. Bakers and other intermediaries will also benefit from cheaper domestic produce.Strengthening the agricultural sector will also strengthen related supplies and services. This project will attract suppliers of inputs, such as fertilisers, fuel, agro chemicals, ICT and financial services. The government has recently developed a special programme for the North and they will use this project to attract other investors in this difficult part of Mali. Local boatmen will be included in transporting crops to the factories along the river Niger.•	EnvironmentAgriculture, by definition, consumes water and extracts minerals from the soil. Water is available in the river Niger in large quantities while crop rotation and fertilisation will keep the nutrient base in balance. The new joint venture has taken several measures to minimise the use of water. These include:1. the planting of drought resistant varieties;2. the use of conservation agriculture to reduce moisture evaporation, and3. the use of irrigation at night to prevent excessive evaporation during the day.Own research so far has revealed – among others – that there is more than sufficient water for the pivot, and with water from the river Niger being used for irrigation, there is also minimal risk of soil salinisation. There is also more than enough water for the farmers and for the foreseen expansion after the PSI project.The crop will be well monitored throughout the growing season for incidences or outbreaks of pest and diseases. Crop protection will be done by using IPM (Integrated Pest Management) methods, if possible with precision agriculture. Crop rotation will be applied so disease can be kept under control.No chemicals forbidden in the EU will be used while EU standards for their application will be used for chemicals that are not forbidden. Empty chemical containers will be destroyed in order to avoid them being dumped in the environment or to prevent them being reused by the community.•	Position of womenThe project will provide equal opportunities for men and women. At least 31% of the employees will be women, which is very high for this specific location in the North of the country where not many women have official jobs and work contracts.Women are in charge of family food security whereas men are more eager to grow cash crops. In order to protect the farmers from opportunistic wheat selling or selling for short term cash needs, the joint venture will start a "grain bank" to ensure increased food security. This is particularly done to protect women and the family food situation. To produce wheat on a commercial scale in the north of Mali with a pivot installation and cooperation with smallholders to replace the massive imports.