Cover_Rebuilding West Africas Food Potential

162 Rebuilding West Africa’s food potential

to the groups of commodities is provided principally via investments in on-farm capital, infrastructure,

marketing and training (and extension in the case of livestock products).

Overall, most public expenditure is aimed at the provision of public services and investment, with a strong

focus on infrastructure, both agriculture-specific and agriculture-supportive. These expenditures primarily

support grains – particularly rice – but also livestock and livestock products.

Figure 7. Support to individual and groups of commodities in Mali, in %, average 2006-2010

Source: Authors, based on budgetary data collected by Institute of Rural Economy in Mali for the MAFAP project.

3.3 Role of aid in public expenditure on agriculture in Mali

Aid from donors to the government of Mali seems to be consistent with the government’s overall

objectives, although there are some minor differences in priorities. On average, donor spending

accounts for as much as 70 percent of overall public expenditure in support of the food and agriculture

sector in Mali. External aid contributes to 64 percent of agriculture-specific measures and 82 percent

of agriculture-supportive measures (Figure 8).

Within each of the main categories, the contribution of aid differs. For agriculture-specific expenditure,

in terms of proportion of total spending, donors contribute the most to extension, payments to

processors, inspection, storage, input subsidies, training, marketing and infrastructure. In terms of the

level of spending, input subsidies and infrastructure receive the highest support.

Among agriculture-supportive measures, all categories receive almost equally high levels of aid, while

the highest amount of donor support goes to rural infrastructure. The most supported expenditure

category is input subsidies. However, if all infrastructure expenditure (agriculture-specific and

agriculture-supportive) were combined, there would be a much higher share of aid directed towards

rural infrastructure. Among all spending categories, income support and payments to traders are the

only two categories that do not receive any external support.

rice

63%

fish

20%

cale

9% coon4% shea^

1%

milk

1%

poultry

1%

wood

1% (^) wheat
shallot 0%^
0%
sesame
0%
jatropha
0%
all grains
42%
fruit and
vegetables,
livestock and
fish
23%
all grains,
wood
10%
livestock
10%
millet, maize,
sorghum
7%
rize and
horculture
4%
rice and wood
3%
horculture
1%
sesame and
shallots
0%