Publication: Office du Niger : Ensuring Food Security for Mali
Date
1996-04
ISSN
Published
1996-04
Author(s)
Aw, Dibril
Dejou, Chantel
Abstract
Located in the heart of Mali, the Office
du Niger (ON) is one of the oldest and largest irrigation
schemes in Sub-Saharan Africa. The French, who began the
scheme in 1932, planned on developing about 1,000,000
hectares over a period of 50 years. The original objectives
were to: 1) supply the French textile industry with a large
share of its needs in cotton; and 2) significantly
contribute to food security for the whole Sahelian region of
the French Empire with a modern and commercial rice
production system. In short, the ON had drained huge public
resources with little result. From the mid-1970s, the ON
focused sharply on developing the area into a major national
and regional rice-producing resource.
Citation
“Aw, Dibril; Dejou, Chantel. 1996. Office du Niger : Ensuring Food Security for Mali. Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs; No. 61. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/51b27396-6619-5197-95c8-53724a70934a License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”