In Mali, there is no rigorous planning procedure for allocating annual budgets to the forestry administration. The national forest fund, which was the only special fund allocated for spending on forestry, had mainly been used for the provision of infrastructure (purchase of materials for logistical purposes and the construction of offices and accommodation). This fund was made up entirely of revenue from forest harvesting, fauna and fishing as well as 75% of transactions revenue. The national forest fund was abolished in 1993 for reasons of transparency and as a condition imposed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Table 12 shows non-project spending on forestry (five-year plan – special investment budget) for the years 1987 - 1991 and Table 13 shows this information for 1992 - 1995. Total spending from 1992 to 1995 amounted to 16,545 million FCFA.
Table 12 Non-project expenditure on forestry 1987 - 1991 (in millions of FCFA)
|
Years |
Total |
|||||
|
1987 |
1988 |
1989 |
1990 |
1991 |
||
|
Forecast Realisation |
30,948 2,420 |
29,400 2,806 |
29,952 2,618 |
40,423 3,287 |
45,335 3,767 |
176,058 14,898 |
Source: Report from National Office for Statistics and Data Processing (1991).
Table 13 Non-project expenditure on forestry 1992 - 1995 (in millions
of FCFA)
|
Years |
Capital expenditure |
Domestic financing (DF) |
Foreign financing (FF) |
|||||||
|
Total |
GFCF |
Other expenditure |
Total |
State budget |
Own finance |
Other |
Total |
Loans |
Subsidies |
|
|
1992 1993 1994 1995 |
1,063,2 2,052,0 2,304,2 n.a. |
329,4 616,3 816,5 n.a. |
733,8 1,435,2 1,442,7 n.a. |
100,0 236,2 172,9 651,0 |
19,0 139,6 170,9 96,0 |
81,0 16,8 2,0 0,0 |
n.a. 79,8 0,0 555 |
963,2 1,815,8 2,131,3 5,056,0 |
46,0 340,8 232,0 1,000,0 |
917,2 1,475,0 1,899,3 4,056,0 |
|
Total |
5,419,4 |
1,762,2 |
3,612,2 |
1,160,1 |
425,5 |
99,8 |
634,8 |
9,966,3 |
1,618,8 |
8,347,8 |
Source: Report from the National Office for Statistics and Data Processing (1991).
Note: GFCF = Gross Fixed Capital Formation (i.e. investment in fixed assets).
Table 13 comprises three parts:
Table 14 shows the financing of forestry projects (with the state budget and foreign aid) since 1992. Total financing amounted to 9,392 million FCFA.
Table 14 Financing of forestry projects (in millions of FCFA)
|
Forestry projects and other |
Domestic Financing |
Foreign financing |
|||||
|
Total |
State budget |
Own finance |
Other |
Total |
Loans |
Grants |
|
|
Bit/KITA project (1993-2000) |
35 |
35 |
0 |
0 |
2,087 |
0 |
2,087 |
|
Third regional project for the sustainable management
of forests |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2,700 |
0 |
2,700 |
|
Protection/management of forests and national
parks (2000) |
27 |
27 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Support for decentralised forestry structures
(2000) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
150 |
0 |
150 |
|
Support for reforestation and forest plantations |
19 |
19 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Programme to combat the silting-up of Timbuktu
city |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4,324 |
0 |
4,324 |
|
Total |
131 |
131 |
0 |
0 |
9,261 |
9,261 |
|
Source: NONC (National Office for Nature Conservation).
Foreign aid granted to the main forestry institutions was worth 19,227 million FCFA for the period 1992 to 1995 (see Table 13 and Table 14).
This foreign aid, although important, has not met expectations, as it does not always take the real needs for investment in forestry into account. In particular, aspects of institutional support and technology transfer are often neglected. This state of affairs has contributed to the lack of technical skills and know-how at the disposal of managers and the population as a whole.
Foreign aid is not precisely defined, in that many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) intervene in the forestry sector, but information about these activities is unfortunately not relayed back to public forestry institutions. Thus, the amount of foreign aid to public forestry institutions is probably higher than the figures reported above.
Public spending on forestry research is included in the tables above, but is not specified separately. This lack of information has prevented the evaluation of public spending on forestry research.
In the area of forestry training, public spending has amounted to 726,990,020 FCFA over the past ten years (1990 – 1999). Table 15 below shows that foreign financing has covered 85.7% of this expenditure on training.
Table 15 Investment in forestry training 1990 - 1999 (in FCFA)
|
Years |
Amount of foreign financing |
Amount of domestic financing |
Total |
|
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 |
100,555,500 135,388,000 141,775,320 83,131,500 122,945,000 39,294,000 - - - - |
12,520,000 22,394,2000 - 16,223,500 - - - 52,771,000 - - |
113,075,500 157,782,200 141,775,320 99,355,000 122,945,000 39,294,000 - 52,771,000 - - |
|
Total |
623,089,320 |
103,908,700 |
726,998,020 |
Source: Tabacoro’s Centre for Practical Forestry Training
It is extremely difficult to assess the grants and subsidies given to companies and individuals in the forestry sector, because the management of such money is not altogether clear. Furthermore, there is no mechanism for coordination, allowing for the gathering and centralisation of data on this topic from companies and individuals.
Since Mali’s independence until today, there has only been one state forestry company (the Malian Wood Company), which went bankrupt very quickly. In other words, there aren’t any state forestry companies in Mali at the moment.
