Key policies and governance approach

In Mali, land management has become a crucial issue over the past decade. Land at both urban and peri-urban and rural levels has become a commodity coveted by national elites and various investors. In rural areas, the situation is marked by pressure on land and tensions or conflicts that have serious consequences. repercussions on access and food security. Faced with this situation, the voluntary guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure systems applicable to land, fisheries and forests constitute a relevant tool for improving land governance in Mali.

Before the 1992 Constitution of Mali - which guarantees the citizens the right to own property and provides for the protection of it – during the Colonial period (1892-1960) the rule in place was the “mise en valeur” principle which required registered land to be put into productive use [4].

After it, several policies and legislative codes have been developed in Mali.

In 2001 the Pastoral Charter recognized the right of pastoralists to have access to natural resources for their livestock and livelihoods and in 2002 the revision of the Land Tenure Code (2000) decentralised and recognized the customary rights [4].

In 2006 the Agricultural Orientation Law gives a structure to tenure arrangements on agricultural lands [4].

In the last two years, several activities have been carried out by the framework for consultation and action on land governance in Mali, in particular an important work about the recently revealed agricultural land law project. The project "Improved land governance for prosperity shared in the Senegal River Basin” (SRB) in Mali, Mauritania and Senegal“ is a local and regional response to a growing demand from many stakeholders in the Senegal River basin in recent years - in particular representatives of civil society - to discuss and improve land governance and accountability in this area, as part of new investments in agriculture made by public and private investors [5].

Successes and remaining challenges

Efforts have been made at both the governmental and local levels to address land degradation issues. Successes have been achieved through ad hoc projects largely financed by technical and financial partners following sectoral approaches [1].

Initiatives and Development Plans

Mali signed the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on October 15, 1994 and ratified it on October 31, 1995. It entered into force on December 26, 1996, thus marking the willingness of the country's authorities to commit to the fight against drought, land degradation and desertification. This commitment was concretized by the elaboration and adoption in 1998 of a National Action Program (NAP) entitled PNAE/PAN-CID. This NAP, which is the main instrument for implementing the UNCCD, has proved ineffective in curbing the specter of desertification in Mali, mainly because of a lack of vision, reference data and indicators [1].

Mali revised its National Adaptation Plan in 2014 following the elaboration of a Strategic Investment Framework for Sustainable Land Management (CSI-GDT) in 2010. In 2015 the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offered an opportunity to position the fight against desertification and land degradation into the sustainable development agenda and also the carry out the fight against poverty through SDG 15 and its target 15.3, which provides support for combating desertification, restoring degraded lands and soils, including lands affected by desertification, drought and floods, and striving for a world without land degradation by 2030 [1].

In 2020, the Government of Mali has also submitted the Land Degradation Neutrality National Report to the UNCCD. Through this document, Mali has committed to voluntary targets, measures and initiatives to achieve neutrality by 2030. Specific actins include (i) reduce the conversion rate between 2000 and 2015 of land cover causing degradation in forests, pastures and cultivated land from 35 to 20%, (ii) reduce annual deforestation by 25%, that is a reduction of 125,000 ha, (iii) increase the forest area by 10% between 2015 and 2030, that is about 200,000 ha, through reforestation and afforestation, (iv) decrease by 50% the area of forest, cultivated land and pasture, affected by a decline in net land productivity, that is about 1,000,000 ha and, (v) preserve the area of wetland [1].

Goals and Ambitions

Mali’s priority actions with regard to sustainable land management (SLM) include: [3]

• Combat desertification through reforestation, restoration of degraded soils and promotion of good SLM practices.
• Ensure the preservation of mountain ecosystems, in particular their biodiversity, in order to better harness their essential benefits for sustainable development.
• Reduce the degradation of the natural environment, halt the degradation of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect endangered species and prevent their extinction.

Moreover, as part of its land degradation neutrality (LDN) objectives, Mali has set voluntary national targets to increase the forest area to 26% of the total land area by 2030, to reduce the proportion of land cultivated annually, but affected by declining fertility, and subject to erosion (about 2, 5 million hectares), and to reduce the annual loss of forest area by at least 25% (about 125,000 hectares) with the aim of increasing agricultural production and preserving ecosystems with a net improvement in vegetation cover of 10% [1].