Since its inception in 2008, the project has collaborated with government agencies and other development partners to meet the needs of the community. The areas of involvement have crossed all sectors, including agriculture, health, education, infrastructure, gender equality and community development. However, the Sahel-Sahara zone is chronically inflicted with food shortages, and so the first priority of the Millennium Villages project was focused on rice production and small-scale irrigation to try to address the critical issue of food security.

Remarkable progress has been made since the first year including: (1) better control of food shortages in the offseason by increasing production and productivity of rice during that season; (2) approximately 25% increase in school attendance between 2008 and early 2010 as a result of community awareness campaigns; and (3) improved community health metrics through such measures as the distribution of insecticide treated bed nets, improved rapid diagnostic tests for malaria and more widespread measles vaccinations for children. Marked improvements also have been seen in the number of antenatal consultations, assisted births, and patients diagnosed with and treated for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

The intervention zone of this project has great resources and enormous potential favorable for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the coming years. These advantages include: (1) water resources from the Niger River and its tributaries; (2) the availability of irrigable land; (3) community organizations which are hardworking and experienced in irrigated rice farming and gardening; and (4) an excellent relationship and unwavering support from local and regional governments. In fact, the Toya project’s successes will be a model for replication in other areas, particularly in the rest of the Timbuktu Region, through the launching of Initiative 166 – a program that will scale up Millennium Village concepts to meet the MDGs in the 166 poorest counties in Mali.