372 Enabling Policies and Institutions for Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems
In Mangwende, there is more of a contrast in view, given the higher level of agri-
cultural potential and marketing opportunities available:
ESAP is about encouraging people to work hard to build wealth... removal of price con-
trols and competition amongst businesses can be beneficial if it leads to reduced input
prices and better producer prices, as is happening with cotton... ESAP means a more dif-
ficult life for farmers because input prices are rising faster than producer prices... (ibid)In Ethiopia, the impacts of structural adjustment on fertilizer prices are only now
starting to feed through to farmers, for whom fertilizer prices have risen signifi-
cantly in real terms (Croppenstedt et al, 1998). For farmers in Wolayta, these
changes have rendered even more inaccessible their access to purchased inputs
which has been in steady regression since the closure of the WADU project in
1981 and the withdrawal of credit-based fertilizer support. In the last few years,
the Ethiopian government has been strongly promoting and extending the ferti-
lizer package developed with the SG-2000 programme. This may provide the pos-
sibility of accessing assured supplies of inorganic inputs at reasonable cost for
better-off farmers with sufficient land and good market access. However the
SG-2000 package raises serious concerns when spread to poorer farmers and drier,
risk-prone areas.
In Mali, structural reforms were begun in the mid-1980s and included liber-
alization of cereal prices and the abolition of fertilizer credit schemes. Many farm-
ers in the dry cereal-producing areas had never had easy access to such inputs since
they were not in an area considered a priority for rural development interventions.
However, farmers in Dilaba did have the opportunity to tap into project-supported
credit and chemical fertilizers during the 1980s. For rice and cotton farmers, struc-
tural adjustment and devaluation of the CFA franc have had a much greater impact
because of their engagement in market activities.
Devaluation of the CFA franc in 1994 has had a largely positive effect on farm-
ers in Mali. Prior to 1994, cotton farmers were facing stagnant prices and rising
input prices. The CMDT had limited processing capacity and had established a
quota system to keep a ceiling on cotton production. The devaluation coincided
with rising world market prices for cotton, such that very substantial benefits could
be gained from expanding area under this crop. With the CMDT investing in new
ginning capacity, and a lifting of quotas, the area under cotton has grown from
200,000ha in 1993 to nearly 500,000ha in 1996 (Jeune Afrique, 1998). While
input levels in the first year after the devaluation were somewhat depressed, subse-
quently farmers re-established former practices. Thus, for example, average net
returns per hectare of cotton rose by a factor of 3 to 5 over the period 1993–1996
(Giraudy and Niang, 1996). Prices have also risen for cereals, particularly maize,
given high levels of demand from the neighbouring Ivory Coast. Not only the
larger, better-equipped farmers, but also the poorer small-farm households have
been able to take advantage of these opportunities and expand the area cultivated,
gaining a substantial increase in income per hectare because of the large hike in