Addressing the challenges of agricultural service provision: The case of Oxfam's Strategic Cotton Programme in Mali

Abstract

This paper looks at ways of improving agricultural service provision to rural producers through the adoption and integration of innovative tools for managing producer organizations in Mali. It considers a bottom-up approach to agricultural service provision and the factors that enable it to be scaled up efficiently. It demonstrates that building on complementarities between partners and adopting a needs-based approach creates relatively greater social impact. Our case study links the practical experience of a programme to the wider theoretical framework of social capital. We conclude that delivering affordable agricultural services to promote rural entrepreneurship in Mali will depend on (i) strategically incorporating past successes into programme interventions, (ii) building strong partnerships that foster complementarities, (iii) setting specific targets that empower all rural stakeholders, and (iv) establishing internal arrangements that ensure sustainability. © 2011 Earthscan.