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Causes and Consequences of Increasing Herbicide Use in Mali

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An Erratum to this article was published on 01 April 2018

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Abstract

This paper examines the origins and impact of rapid recent growth of herbicide use in Mali. Primary data come from interviews with herbicide importers and distributors and from a 2014/2015 survey of farm households in Mali’s Sudanian Savanna zone. Results suggest that a series of major supply-side changes are driving growth in Mali’s herbicide markets, most conspicuously a proliferation in the number of sellers and herbicide brands marketed, a shift to low-cost suppliers in China and India, and consequently falling herbicide prices. At the farm level, herbicides cost on average 50 per cent less than hiring weeding labor. Despite low econometric estimates of damage abatement, herbicide adoption rates reach 25 per cent in remote rural zones and 75 per cent in more accessible rural areas. Key factors affecting adoption include spatial variation in herbicide prices and rural wage rates. At current levels, herbicide use reduces peak season rural labor demand by roughly 14 per cent.

Cette étude examine l’augmentation rapide de l’utilisation des herbicides au Mali, ses origines et son impact. Les données primaires utilisées dans l’étude proviennent des entretiens auprès des importateurs et distributeurs d’herbicide, et aussi d’une enquête en 2014-2015 auprès des ménages agricoles dans la zone Malienne du Savannah Soudanien. Les résultats indiquent que la croissance du marché des herbicides au Mali est dû à des changements dans l’offre des herbicides, en particulier à une prolifération du nombre de vendeurs et des marques disponibles, au déplacement des sources de herbicides a des fournisseurs bas coût en Inde et en Chine, et à une conséquente chute des prix des herbicides. Au niveau des fermes, l’utilisation des herbicides implique des couts 50% inferieurs à ceux assumés en embauchant des travailleurs pour désherber. En dépit des faibles réductions de dégâts, estimés économétriquement, l’adoption des herbicides touche le 25% dans les zones rurales les plus éloignées, et le 75% dans les zones rurales plus accessibles. Les facteurs-clé affectant l’adoption des herbicides comprennent la variation spatiale du prix des herbicides, et les salaires ruraux. Au niveau actuel des prix et des salaires, l’utilisation des herbicides réduit la demande de travail agricole d’un 20% pendant la haute saison horticole.

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Figure 1

Source: Comité Sahélien des Pesticides (CSP).

Figure 2
Figure 3

Source: Fitted quadratic plots with 95 per cent confidence intervals, computed from 2014/2015 farm household survey described in Smale et al (2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824-1039, USA

    Steven Haggblade, Melinda Smale & Veronique Theriault

  2. Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER), BP 258, Rue Mohamed V, Bamako, Mali

    Alpha Kergna

  3. Projet de Recherche sur Politique Securité Alimentaire au Mali (PRePoSAM), Bamako, Mali

    Amidou Assima

Authors
  1. Steven Haggblade
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  2. Melinda Smale
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  3. Alpha Kergna
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  4. Veronique Theriault
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  5. Amidou Assima
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Correspondence to Steven Haggblade.

Appendix A

Appendix A

Table A1 OLS and Tobit adoption models explaining herbicide use (liters per plot) on maize and sorghum plots, Sudan Savanna, Mali
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Table A2 Weeding labor requirements by crop
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Table A3 Agricultural population and rural economic activity rates
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Haggblade, S., Smale, M., Kergna, A. et al. Causes and Consequences of Increasing Herbicide Use in Mali. Eur J Dev Res 29, 648–674 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-017-0087-2

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