216
9
well as declining extension services and general support to farmers from the CMDT
since the early 2000s, following a neo-liberalization policy, farmers have increasingly
prioritized maize before cotton to the extent that cotton has become less important
as a cash-crop and has instead become a ‘support crop’ to access credit and technology for the farmers (Laris et al. 2015). This has led to a ‘silent maize revolution’ in
Mali with a rapid rise in maize production and yields (Laris and Foltz 2014).
The flip side of the rapid agricultural growth in the Malian cotton zone is, however, said to be environmental degradation including serious loss of soil fertility, but
as we shall see, this claim is contested by soil fertility studies (Benjaminsen 2001;
Benjaminsen et al. 2010).
The landscape of southern Mali provides the basis for the location of villages
and agricultural land. Villages are located close to depressions in the landscape. This
is also where the best soils containing the finest particles of clay and silt are found.
Soil particles are distributed by rainwater on the gentle slopes of each side of the
village. The most fertile soils are located in the lower parts and sand and gravel further up. However, the soils in West Africa are generally naturally low in mineral soil
fertility (Breman 1998; Niemeijer and Mazzucato 2002).
The relief within the village land (terroir) represents an ecological gradient at the
micro-level. Land use and tenure are also varying on this gradient (Benjaminsen
2002). Close to the settlements, the manured and intensively cultivated gardens are
fenced with branches. Different sorts of vegetables are cultivated here. Most of the
products are sold and the one who cultivates also controls the output. In many production units there are also individual fields situated close to the habitations. Outside
these gardens and fields, the area with the big fields (foroba) of the lineage are
located. Normally there is a continuous band of fields, which is almost permanently
cultivated. Beyond these big fields, there is ‘the bush’. It is often located at the upper
parts of the slope, or in general, on more marginal land. Extension of the cultivated
area is taking place in ‘the bush’, since the big fields are more intensively and permanently cultivated. Cotton is usually grown in rotation with cereals such as maize,
sorghum and millet in alternate years. The land management model described here,
which is common in farming communities in West Africa, involves the transfer of
nutrients in the form of manure from the bush to the village fields (Harris 2002).
Until the beginning of the 1980s, fertilizers were subsidized in Mali. This resulted
in increased harvests. As part of the World Bank’s Structural Adjustment Programme,
started in 1982, in Mali the government was, however, forced to phase out these
subsidies. Since then cotton production continued to increase, while yields (production per unit area) have declined since the early 1990s (. Fig. 9.3).
We argue that the reason why yields decreased in the 1990s into the 2000s is that
farmers compensated for the decline in the use of fertilizer per unit area by expanding the cultivated areas. Hence, there was in the 1990s and early 2000s a process of
extensification by farmers expanding the area under cotton cultivation and investing
less labour and agricultural inputs such as chemical fertilizers per area unit.
In January 1994, the West African Franc (FCFA) was devalued to 50% of its
previous value. This increased the profits for cotton growers. While the costs of
Chapter 9 · Population Growth, Markets and Sustainable Land-Use in Africa
9
well as declining extension services and general support to farmers from the CMDT
since the early 2000s, following a neo-liberalization policy, farmers have increasingly
prioritized maize before cotton to the extent that cotton has become less important
as a cash-crop and has instead become a ‘support crop’ to access credit and technology for the farmers (Laris et al. 2015). This has led to a ‘silent maize revolution’ in
Mali with a rapid rise in maize production and yields (Laris and Foltz 2014).
The flip side of the rapid agricultural growth in the Malian cotton zone is, however, said to be environmental degradation including serious loss of soil fertility, but
as we shall see, this claim is contested by soil fertility studies (Benjaminsen 2001;
Benjaminsen et al. 2010).
The landscape of southern Mali provides the basis for the location of villages
and agricultural land. Villages are located close to depressions in the landscape. This
is also where the best soils containing the finest particles of clay and silt are found.
Soil particles are distributed by rainwater on the gentle slopes of each side of the
village. The most fertile soils are located in the lower parts and sand and gravel further up. However, the soils in West Africa are generally naturally low in mineral soil
fertility (Breman 1998; Niemeijer and Mazzucato 2002).
The relief within the village land (terroir) represents an ecological gradient at the
micro-level. Land use and tenure are also varying on this gradient (Benjaminsen
2002). Close to the settlements, the manured and intensively cultivated gardens are
fenced with branches. Different sorts of vegetables are cultivated here. Most of the
products are sold and the one who cultivates also controls the output. In many production units there are also individual fields situated close to the habitations. Outside
these gardens and fields, the area with the big fields (foroba) of the lineage are
located. Normally there is a continuous band of fields, which is almost permanently
cultivated. Beyond these big fields, there is ‘the bush’. It is often located at the upper
parts of the slope, or in general, on more marginal land. Extension of the cultivated
area is taking place in ‘the bush’, since the big fields are more intensively and permanently cultivated. Cotton is usually grown in rotation with cereals such as maize,
sorghum and millet in alternate years. The land management model described here,
which is common in farming communities in West Africa, involves the transfer of
nutrients in the form of manure from the bush to the village fields (Harris 2002).
Until the beginning of the 1980s, fertilizers were subsidized in Mali. This resulted
in increased harvests. As part of the World Bank’s Structural Adjustment Programme,
started in 1982, in Mali the government was, however, forced to phase out these
subsidies. Since then cotton production continued to increase, while yields (production per unit area) have declined since the early 1990s (. Fig. 9.3).
We argue that the reason why yields decreased in the 1990s into the 2000s is that
farmers compensated for the decline in the use of fertilizer per unit area by expanding the cultivated areas. Hence, there was in the 1990s and early 2000s a process of
extensification by farmers expanding the area under cotton cultivation and investing
less labour and agricultural inputs such as chemical fertilizers per area unit.
In January 1994, the West African Franc (FCFA) was devalued to 50% of its
previous value. This increased the profits for cotton growers. While the costs of
Chapter 9 · Population Growth, Markets and Sustainable Land-Use in Africa