PLACE OF COTTON PRODUCTION IN MALI

The Malian economy is based on agriculture and depends largely on export earnings from products such as cotton (nearly 12% of government revenue in 2013 according to Instat). The effects of socio-political instabilities, the conflict in the north, natural or human-induced hazards risk compromising the progress made until 2011 in improving the conditions for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The purpose of this article is to take stock of the various factors that influence the cotton sector (production, marketing, local processing). As a methodological approach, we are inspired by the results of participatory surveys, which we carried out in (2014 and 2016) in the cotton production zones of Koutiala, Sikasso and San (the main actors of the communes are: farmers' organizations (PO) of cotton growers and CMDT), through sampling by saturation principle, reports from various organizations (National Institute of Statistics “Instat-Mali”, Malian Textile Development Company “CMDT, 2016 to 2019”, Ministry of agriculture, United Nations Development Program “UNDP, 2019” etc.), research work. In this paper, we analyze the strengths and weaknesses of cotton production in Mali, which constitutes the economic lifeblood of the agricultural sector. According to the 2019 report from the National Institute of Statistics, cotton cultivation employs around 70% of the working population. Various studies underline the importance of cotton cultivation and its influence on the economic dynamics of other sectors (Hugon, 2003; Benamou, 2005; Fok, 2005; Diakité, 2010; Keita et al., 2011; Balié, 2012; Camara, 2015). This allows us to identify the responsibilities of the different actors in the hope of improving the competitiveness of the sector.