Economic interdependence among socio-economic groups in Madiama Commune of the Niger Delta of Mali

Abstract

One aim of the SANREM West Africa Project is to identify the linkages among socio-economic groups in the Madiama commune of northern Mali. The results from compiling a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) were reported earlier. These results clearly demonstrated that transhumants are the least favored of the occupational groups, so that any development interventions should address this group separately. In this paper, the SAM is disaggregated further and decomposed multipliers computed. Three groups of decomposed multipliers are computed - direct effect, open loop and closed loop multipliers. The process of decomposition separates the impact of interactions among production activities from that due to interactions among socio-economic groups. These latter interdependencies are important to understand in a commune where rivalry among groups for resources is strong. Analysis of the multipliers and the pattern of primary commodity sales and microenterprise activity reinforces earlier conclusions about the importance of the livestock sub-sectors and the fragile position of the transhumant pastoralists.