The population-agriculture-environment nexus in the Malian cotton zone

Since the late 1950s, production of both cash-crop cotton and food crops has increased immensely in the Malian cotton zone. The response of farmers to external incentives or obstacles has been swift. In an opportunistic way, fanners seem to seek immediate and maximum profits. This has been particularly evident with the boom in both cotton and food crop production after the devaluation of the CFA franc in January 1994. Such reactions support the idea that it is not only African pastoral production systems which are non-equilibrial and opportunistic, but that this also characterises farming communities. Furthermore, the agricultural development in the cotton zone is regularly said to cause serious environmental degradation mainly through deforestation and soil depletion. The paper questions this view, The environmental transformation taking place is analysed, but whether this transformation represents 'degradation' or 'improvement' is largely a normative question subject to the values and environmental perceptions of the individual actors. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.