The prices of agricultural commodities have increased on international markets since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 and spiked after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022.
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Because of low incomes and associated large shares of expenditure on food, Mali is potentially very vulnerable to sharp increases in the prices of key grain staples such as maize and wheat.
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.
Farmers, entrepreneurs, and businesses are already leading the way by expanding irrigation in response to climate variability and the growing demand for vegetables and fruit through supplemental and dry-season irrigated production.
Trading millet and sorghum genetic resources women vendors in the village fairs of San and Souentza, Mali
In Mali, liberalization of seed markets for sorghum and millet, the staple food crops, has not advanced at the same rate or with the same measurable success as liberalization of grain markets.