Mali project 688-0241 · 1987–1993 · Experience, Inc.

Program to continue supporting Government of Mali (GRM) efforts to restructure cereals marketing, especially by increasing private sector participation in grain storage and trade. The program represents Phase II of 6880230, the Cereals Market Restructuring Project (PRMC). It will be coordinated by the PRMC Board, a joint GRM-donor group; various national, parastatal, and private agencies will carry out the actual policy reforms. Building on Phase I progress and the exceptional harvests of 1985 and 1986, the Phase II program consists of a cash transfer (in lieu of the food aid provided previously) to underwrite reform efforts to: (1) liberalize the cereals market; (2) improve production incentives and producers' purchasing power; (3) and reduce costs of the official marketing system. To support objective (1), lines of credit for private traders to purchase and store grains will be set up at private banks; the Malian Office of Agricultural Products (OPAM) will only purchase quantities sufficient for national security stocks; milling incentives will encourage other cereals programs to open their facilities to private paddy buyers; only limited prefinancing for paddy purchasing wil

Source: DEC abstract, PD-BBH-322 (1987). The source's own text.