Institut d'Economie Rurale

IER (Institut d'Economie Rurale) is the principal organisation in Mali's national agricultural research system.

IER is structured into five research programmes and laboratories. Its main areas of expertise are  agricultural and livestock production, post-harvest and food technologies, socio-economics and agricultural economics.

The food technology laboratory (IER/LTA) of the Sotuba agricultural research centre in Bamako is the main laboratory partner in the Aval Fonio project, with specialised researchers conducting studies on the transformation and stabilisation of processed agricultural products.

As the number two partner, IER is an integral part of Work Package 3 and is participating in the development of washing and de-sanding processes for fonio. As the major partner in Mali, IER/LTA is implementing workshop testing and facilitating experimentation with private operators. IER is participating in the analysis of results, the production of reports, the development of guidelines and the organisation of meetings and technical workshops in Mali.