Mali’s agrifood system structure and drivers of transformation

Global Food and Nutrition Security

Mali experienced modest annual economic growth of 4.4 percent between 2009 and 2019 (INSTAT 2020; World Bank 2023a). With annual population growth of 3.0 percent during that period, the living standards of Malian people improved only modestly. In 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant slowdown in economic growth, while an increase in armed insurgencies by domestic terrorist groups also had an adverse effect on the economy. Mali’s GDP growth is projected to reach 4.0 percent in 2023 and 2024 (World Bank 2023b), suggesting the economy is inching back toward its prepandemic growth trajectory. Agriculture remains an important sector, accounting for 40 percent of GDP and more than 60 percent of employment in Mali. In this brief, we unpack the historical and projected economic growth trajectory further to better understand the role of agriculture as well as the broader agrifood system (AFS) in the performance and transformation of the economy of Mali.

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Authors	Xinshen Diao, Mia Ellis, Karl Pauw, Josee Randriamamonjy, and James Thurlow
Geographic coverage	Mali
Available from	01 Mar 2024
Related organisation(s)	IFPRI - International Food Policy Research Institute
Knowledge service \| Metadata	Global Food and Nutrition Security \| Sustainable Food Systems \| Food systems transformation Cash crop Staple crop
Digital Europa Thesaurus (DET)	policymaking agricultural production agricultural economics value chain economic growth

Supporting policy with scientific evidence

Mali’s agrifood system structure and drivers of transformation

Food systems performance evaluated against targets and benchmarks reveals urgent gaps and a path to 2050

Critical, emerging and enduring issues for food security and nutrition - A note by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security - August 2026

Making Sense of the Bioeconomy: A Critical Analysis of EU Policy Narratives and Responses

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