Analysis of incentives to rice production in the area of the Office du Niger in Mali

Abstract

In Mali, rice is the object of special attention in terms of public policy. The authorities encourage its production to provide income to producers, meet the domestic demand, and turn the country into a net exporter. Still, imported rice competes with local rice on national markets. Since the 2000s, the government has been adopting measures aimed at two objectives: keeping prices affordable for consumers and providing support to producers to boost production. The government has not achieved these two objectives simultaneously, as our comparison of wholesale and producer prices shows. Producers were indeed discouraged from 2008, with low prices despite receiving apparent policy support through the "Rice Initiative" launched in 2008. This is due to a combination of factors including measures to promote imports following the food crisis of 2008-2009, structural rigidities leading to high transport costs, and an overvaluation of the CFA franc. In order to turn the country into a net exporter of rice, the government will need to support a long-term increase of rice production by providing better price incentives.