Cover_Rebuilding West Africas Food Potential

176 Rebuilding West Africa’s food potential

Figure 17. Visual representation of Mali’s main policy and operational frameworks

Source: Authors

All relevant policy measures were also analysed for each commodity, to explain the incentives and

disincentives to production. Project and programs related to the agricultural and rural sector and

included in the state budget were all examined in the public expenditure analysis (see part 2 : An

analysis of Mali’s public expenditure: composition and volume).

5.2 The case of rice: contradictory objectives result in apparent incoherence

Rice is considered a strategic food product in Mali; it is therefore the object of special attention in

terms of both public policy (policies) and policy issues (politics). Rice is seen as the main staple, with

potential for achieving food security, improving farmers’ incomes and meeting growing urban demand

at a reasonable cost. The recent food price crises have revived the colonial era project to make Mali not

only a country durably self-sufficient in rice but also a rice exporter, at least in West Africa (Roy, 2010).

In this context, policy objectives relating to rice are numerous and sometimes contradictory.

Rice has received enormous attention from the Mali government and donors alike over the period

studied. A profusion of projects and programs focusing on rice exist in the country, with this commodity

receiving a staggering 63 percent of total public expenditure allocated to specific agricultural products,

making it the leading product in terms of public expenditure. A large share of public expenditure in

support of rice comes from the Rice Initiative. This policy was implemented in 2008 as a response to

the food crisis and is still ongoing. The Rice Initiative provides rice farmers with seeds and fertilizer

at about 50 percent of their market price. The state also provides credit facilities (for power tillers,

threshers, pumps) and support and advice to producers. The initiative was extended to other cereals

after 2009. The government spent more than 7.3 billion FCFA to support fertilizers in 2008/2009,

allocated overwhelmingly to rice (Ministère de l’Agriculture, 2009). The government had a budgeted

expenditure of 6.4 billion FCFA in 2009/2010 to subsidize fertilizers with the Rice Initiative (Ministère de

l’Agriculture, 2010). Moreover, the government has been heavily investing in irrigation and roads, much

of this spending being linked to the development of the rice crop. In total, 21 percent of agriculture-

specific state spending was spent on agricultural infrastructure.

Despite taking important steps to boost production from 2005 to 2010, the government also adopted

contradictory price policies over the same period. These short-term policies were established in reaction

Global

strategic

framework

Agricultural^

strategic

framework^

Operational

programs

CSLP^

2002 - 2006

CSCRP^

2007 - 2011

CSCERP^

2007 - 2011

LOA^

2006-...

SDDR

1992 - 2010

PDA

2011 -2020

Individual investment

PNISA

2011 - 2020

projects ... - 2010