Adoption rates for improved varieties of sorghum remain low in Mali—ranging from 13 to 33% depending on the estimation method used—despite the central role of this crop and significant long-term investments in its development. Explanations include, but are not limited to: a) the difficulties both plant breeders and farmers confront in attaining sufficiently high yield advantages given Mali’s harsh and heterogeneous growing environment; b) challenges in providing hybrid seeds because of the weak involvement of private suppliers in the supply chain; c) absence of a formal market channel that would be appropriate for improved sorghum seed. Currently, sorghum growers in Mali depend very much on harvests from their one families or fellow farmers to obtain the seed they need for planting.