Chapter 13. Rice in Mali: Policies for competitive and inclusive value chain development 437
88 830 XOF for rainfed and 196 640 XOF for irrigated rice. When the rice is sold in the primary market, these
added values become 129 465 XOF and 286 592 XOF respectively. They are even more substantial for husked
rice, 142 882 XOF for rainfed and 316 318 XOF for the irrigated one.
Figure 13. Value added per ha according to selling and production methods, Ségou
Source: DNGR, 2009
According to this DNGR (2009) study, natural flooding rice cultivation appears to be the least profitable,
generating only about 13 600 XOF of value added per ha for paddy sold at farm gate and 30 000 XOF/ha
for paddy sold in the primary market. Even after husking, the margin is only 41 807 XOF/ha, because of its
poor yields (1.2 t/ha) and its very high costs (118 XOF/kg). Further research may be required to confirm these
findings.
All of these results are to be taken into account in decisions related to food security strategies, soil
distribution and choices in terms of agriculture. This also applies when designing programs to promote
the well-being of farm households and the fight against poverty. 2009 Census figures allow a more in-
depth interpretation. People involved in rice growing are not evenly distributed according to production
methods. Thus the density for rainfed production is 24 person-days/ha, 8 person-days/ha for free flooding
production, 10 person-days/ha for controlled flooding production, and only 4 person-days/ha for the
irrigated rice system. This shows that beyond the inherent added value achievable per unit area, the
density of the people directly linked to rice production can seriously compromise financial gains. Also,
when linking demographic data with added values, spreads tighten between rainfed, natural flooding and
controlled flooding rice systems.
Once again, farmers cultivating rice with irrigation are better off as they generate the most added value per
unit area, while being the least numerous. Irrigation also offers the most opportunities for multiple crop
seasons. By contrast, farmers practicing rainfed rice production are the worse off in terms of density and
must make a choice between rice and other dry crops.
These figures have also revealed a significant margin differential between paddy rice sold at farmgate
and husked rice sold at the primary market. This 33.4 XOF/kg difference on average is what a number of
producers capture in downstream markets.
(^)
Margin on farmgate paddy XOF/ha
Margin on primary market paddy XOF/ha
Marin on husked rice XOF/ha
Rainfed rice Natural flooding Controlled flooding Irrigated paddies
88 830 13 608 15 120 196 640
129 465 29 862 42 210 286 592
142 884 41 807 64 386 316 318
50 000
0
100 000
150 000
200 000
250 000
300 000
350 000