Introduction

Mali’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) constitutes the sole framework for Mali’s development policies and poverty reduction strategies (GoM 2002). This influential document highlights the need to exploit the country’s hydro-electric and hydro-agricultural potential in the order of 5000 GWh/annum and 2 million hectares, respectively.

A review of the PRSP by the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirms this, and states, ‘further development of Mali’s untapped hydrological potential is a critical need, as it directly addresses one of Mali’s core vulnerabilities, that of the temporal and spatial variability in rainfall, as well as the uncertainty of climatic conditions’ (IDA and IMF 2003). Although Mali’s hydro-electric and hydro-agricultural potential has yet to be fully realized, it is widely questioned whether the costs and benefits of such mega-investments are properly estimated. Besides the economic feasibility (i.e. direct costs and benefits) of additional dams, it is still unclear what the indirect effects of hydro-electric and hydro-agricultural schemes are on downstream beneficiaries of rivers.