Mali - A Participatory Approach to Livestock Development

The livestock sector in Mali accounts
for 43 percent of cattle exports in the Sahel sub-region.
However, while the sub-sector accounted for 28.6 percent of
agriculture's contribution to Gross Domestic Product
(GDP), investment in it amounted to only 10.7 percent of the
total budget allocation to rural development. The African
Financial Community (CFA) devaluation in January 1994
increased the competitiveness of red meat from Sahelian
countries (including Mali) bound for coastal importing
countries (Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo). However,
well before the devaluation, a major policy shift on the
part of the Malian government emphasized the
decentralization of political power and investment
decisions. As part of this initiative, the government
requested the World Bank's support on initiating a
participatory process of policy formulation for the red meat sub-sector.