Source: Rural Poverty Portal

Multilaterals

Délégation de la commission européenne
Stratégie de coopération et programme indicatif 2003-2007

International Monetary Fund  (IMF)

• Policy framework paper
• Poverty reduction strategy papers

Programme des Nations Unies pour le développement (PNUD)

• Cadre de coopération du Mali
• Cadre de coopération de pays 1998-2002
• Cadre de résultats stratégiques
• Ebauche de programme de pays avec le Mali 2003-2007
• Bonne gouvernance
• VIH/Sida

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

• Country programme for Mali 2003-2007
• Cadre stratégique de lutte contre la pauvreté (CSLP)
• Plan-cadre des Nations Unies pour l’aide au développement au Mali (UNDAF)
• Bilan commun pays - Mali 2001 (CCA)

World Bank

• Country assistance strategy
• Mali poverty reduction strategy papers
• Comprehensive development framework

World Food Programme (WFP)

• Country strategy outlines | Schéma de stratégie de pays
• Country programme 2003-2007 | Programme de pays 2003-2007

Bilaterals Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
Programming  framework

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)

• GTZ in Mali
• Priority areas

Groupe Agence française de développement (AFD)
Activité du groupe au Mali

KfW Entwicklungsbank

• Overview
• Priority areas

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)

• Stratégie de la Coopération Suisse au Mali 2006-2011
• Development cooperation

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

• Country strategic plan 2003-2012
• Complete USAID/Mali program

Source: Rural Poverty Portal

Rural poverty approaches, policies and strategies in Mali

In May 2002 the Government of Mali issued its first Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), outlining its general strategy for poverty reduction. The 2002-2006 PRSP led to an improvement in Malians’ living conditions, especially in their access to education, health care and water. But weak economic growth hindered any significant reduction in rural poverty. This prompted the government to make development of productive sectors and production support infrastructure the core of its poverty reduction strategy.

The new PRSP, designated the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, covers the period 2007-2011 and focuses on two specific objectives:

• spurring economic growth by developing the rural production and mining sectors
• promoting the well-being of poor people by maintaining the momentum of initiatives in the social sector and strengthening them through reforms geared to achievement of the Millennium Development Goals

For more information:
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), 2002

Source:IFAD

Source: Rural Poverty Portal

Rural poverty in Mali

National poverty reduction strategies have reduced the proportion of the country’s poor people from 68.3 per cent in 2001 to 59.2 per cent in 2005. Still, Mali is one of the world’s poorest countries, ranking 175th out of 177 countries in the United Nations Development Programme’s 2006 Human Development Index.

Three forms of poverty affect people in Mali:

• poverty of living conditions, defined as inadequate access to water, education, health care and housing
• monetary poverty, characterized by a lack of assets and income
• poverty of potential, characterized by scant access to land, equipment, credit and employment

More than 73 per cent of the country’s rural people live below the poverty line. Poverty is widespread in rural Mali, but it does not affect all poor people in the same way. Over the past decade trends have shown a shift in the geographical distribution of poverty.

Read the full article 

We hear quite a lot about major corporations and their negative impact on the African continent. However, just recently I was contacted by a representative for Hallmark Cards who had read this blog and wanted to tell me about a textile project they are running in Mali. As many of you know Mali is famous for bogolan mudcloth textiles.

Hallmark is now a partner with the (RED) campaign. Like other PRODUCT (RED) partners, Hallmark’s gifts and cards raise money for the Global Fund’s fight against AIDS and other diseases in Africa, but this campaign also supports Malian artisans and their local economies. Artisans in Bamako, Mopti, San, and Sevaré are working with Hallmark to produce the Mud Cloth Bag that is part of Hallmark’s collection of PRODUCT (RED) items, generating jobs and income for these artisans. I’ve attached a picture of one of the Mud Cloth Bags for you to see (there are several designs). This is the first export to use Mali’s African Growth and Opportunities Act textile visa.

For more information, please visit www.hallmark.com/red1 - there, you can learn more about the Mud Cloth Bag, and Hallmark’s involvement with the (RED) campaign.

 

 

World People’s Blog has an article on Aminata Dramane Traoré , a quite remarkable Malian woman who won the Prince Claus Award  for her bold and visionary leadership in empowering communities to find solutions within themselves and their culture.

Aminata Traoré is a Doctor in Social Psychology and Psychopathology, and a former Minister of Tourism and Culture in Mali. She is a former co-ordinator of UNDP, and a staunch promoter of several cultural projects (Djenné, San-Toro, Dunanso). She initiated Soi les voisins, le quartier, a project that mobilises the people that live in the same district to help rebuilt the infrastructure and the accessibility of public services. Aminata Traoré is the Co-ordinator of the Forum pour l’autre Mali, a forum that envisages to follow-up the World Social Movement in Europe. She is the author of several books: l’Etau, 1999 and Le Viol de l’Imaginaire, 2002.

Nyèsigiso: Mali’s “House of Providence”

With funding from CIDA, the Nyèsigiso savings and credit union network contributes to Mali’s efforts to reduce poverty. It aims to improve the living conditions of the poor by providing access to financial services.

Ségou is Mali’s third-largest city. A new building houses one of a network of Nyèsigiso savings and credit unions. Nyèsigiso means “house of providence” in Bambara, the language of nearly 60 percent of Mali’s population. Farmers, fishers, merchants, artists, and students thus have access to fully secure banking services. “The building gives visibility and credibility to the savings and credit union, and confidence to our members,” explains Fodé Bah, the Ségou branch manager of the Nyèsigiso savings and credit union network. “The premises used to be too small and unsuited for the purpose. Merchants were afraid of thieves!”

The Nyèsigiso Network Support Project receives support from CIDA and its Quebec-based partner, Développement international Desjardins. The project contributes to Mali’s efforts to reduce poverty. By providing access to financial services, the project aims to improve the living conditions of the poor, especially women.

Ségou is home to Mali’s second-largest savings and credit union network. Nearly 30 percent of its members are women. “And the number keeps growing!” says Fodé Bah.

The project promotes gender equality by enhancing the image of women. It gives women access to a credit system designed to meet their needs. It gives them access to jobs within the savings and credit union network.

Thanks to the network, women are making economic gains. They are building their capacity to act. They are playing a more key role in civil society. They are improving their family’s well-being. The Ségou office even sends facilitators into the field to make women more aware of family planning, the importance of proper nutrition, and the prevention of AIDS and malaria.

The Nyèsigiso network has become one of Mali’s largest. It has achieved better-than-hoped-for results: 26 savings and credit unions, 123,566 members, 5.3 billion CFAF (African Financial Community francs, or about C$11.4 million) in savings, 5.7 billion CFAF (about C$12.2 million), and 8.1 billion CFAF in assets (about C$17.5 million). Thanks to a large-scale reconfiguration program, the network should soon achieve financial self-sufficiency and be fully managed by local staff.

This is a telling report about Mali and US cotton subsidies - and they wonder why they are unpopular!

“If BT cotton is so profitable, why do they have to subsidise their cotton farmers with billions of dollars in the United States?” Ms Samake asks.

“Our farmers in West Africa achieve record production using just their digging sticks and regular seeds and they have great difficulty selling what they produce, because subsidies in America and Europe have made the world price for cotton fall.

“So why do they come now with their GMOs and technology to solve a problem that they created? It’s a big farce!” adds Ms Samake, who is a member of the Coalition to Protect Mali’s Genetic Heritage that formed when word leaked from IER about the USAid-funded project on BT crops.”