Rice Value Chain Analysis in Mali

13th November 2017
by secretary

Agrinatura News

Value Chain Analysis for Development is a tool funded by the European Commission / DEVCO and is implemented in partnership with Agrinatura. It uses a systematic methodological framework for analysing value chains in agriculture, livestock, fishery, aquaculture and agroforestry. Agrinatura (www.agrinatura-eu.eu) is the European Alliance of Universities and Research Centers involved in agricultural research and capacity building for development. The information and knowledge produced through the value chain studies are intended to support the Delegations of the European Union and their partners in improving policy dialogue, investing in value chains and better understanding the changes linked to their actions.

See the Paper here: VCA4D-Mali 6-pager FINAL EN

Findings from the Study indicate that the rice value chain in Mali contributes significantly to the economic growth and is fairly inclusive. However, it does face several constraints that limit its sustainability in the economic, social and environmental domains.

The folowing attention points and recommendations should help address the identified risks and enhance overall sustainability and fairness within the value chain.
To improve economic sustainability, the team of experts proposes the following steps and actions:

• Support the establishment of an inter-branch organisation to facilitate vertical coordination in the value chain and help open up regional markets, reduce transaction costs and improve producers’ incomes.
• Stop exemptions from import duties and taxes not justified outside a real emergency or tension in the market, in order to limit the unwarranted earnings of importing wholesalers and allow for better market transparency and fluidity.
• Rebalance public interventions in favour of other areas of production than the Office du Niger and in favour of rainfed rice production, thereby improving the overall resilience of the value chain.

In order to improve social sustainability, the most critical area on which to act is access to land. Despite the existence of new land legislation, the reality of households/family farmers insecurity remains. The situation of producers remains very fragile with the rules of land management in the area of the Office du Niger. It is necessary to make the business environment more attractive and favourable to the value chain through public investment and infrastructure. Particular attention should also be paid to the most disadvantaged actors (women and youth) and to raise awareness of schooling opportunities in order to deter child labour. To improve environmental sustainability, negative impacts identified in the production phase can be reduced by purchasing policies of environmentally friendly agricultural inputs and improved water management (drainage and aeration).

Better control of post-harvest operations and adapted processing equipment (mini-rice mills) would reduce losses during the processing stage.

Rice Value Chain Analysis in Mali

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