Population growth, food security, health and school access in cotton zone in Mali

Abstract

Mali quadrupled its population from 1960 to 2020. This high population growth implies access to food and nutritional security, health, education and employment. The agricultural sector is targeted by public policies to satisfy this demand. What is the population trend in the cotton zone of Mali? What were the local responses to the implications of this demographic growth in terms of access to health and education? This paper answers these questions through the mobilization, and statistical and spatial analysis, of data on agriculture and access to health and education on several scales. The results reveal: (1) a population growth which is higher than the average of the country but unevenly distributed, (2) a progressive increase in the quantity of cereals (maize, millet and sorghum) per capita, due to an increase in agricultural production faster than the population growth and (3) significant progress in terms of physical access to health and education infrastructure. However, population growth and the new challenges linked to food and nutrition security raise new questions about the capacity of agriculture to meet a more sustained and diversified demand for agricultural products.