Land, water, and capital: Investments or land grabbing in the Office du Niger area (Mali)?

Abstract

In Mali, since the colonial era, the irrigated lands in the Office du Niger have been a privileged area of action for agricultural policies. Nearly 100,000 hectares are currently cropped by family farmers, settled by the state, which developed the plots. But the financial cost of irrigation infrastructure makes development programs increasingly difficult in a context of declining support from international donors. The Malian government is unable to invest the necessary capital to develop new land, face the challenges of food security and satisfy the local land demand. It is therefore now calling for new investors, private and public, domestic and foreign, to develop and modernize its irrigated agriculture. This paper examines land access rules for the different actors, their implementation modalities and their results. It questions the efficiency and the impacts of the new agricultural policies on investors, farmers, and the State.