• Mali to buy 26,030 tons of unsold rice to stabilize market
• Weak competitiveness against imports leaves producers with excess stock
• Regional surplus highlights structural issues in West Africa’s rice sector

Mali’s government has announced it will purchase 26,030 metric tons of unsold rice held by the sector’s industry body, the latest sign of mounting pressure in the marketing of domestically produced grain.

The decision, taken at a Council of Ministers meeting on Thursday, April 23, provides for the government to acquire the stocks and sell them to consumers at affordable prices.

The operation will be carried out with support from the Office des Produits Agricoles du Mali, which will receive a subsidy to cover operational costs. “The implementation of this operation will support the national rice sector, preserve purchasing power and ensure market stability during the lean season,” the Council of Ministers said in a statement.

The government said the buildup in unsold stocks reflects the weak competitiveness of locally produced rice against imports. High production costs make Malian rice less attractive to buyers, leaving producers and processors with excess inventories.

A regional trend

Mali’s situation reflects a broader pattern across West Africa, including in Senegal and Ghana. In Senegal, authorities facing similar pressures have introduced a series of measures in recent months to boost local rice sales, including a subsidy of 50 CFA francs per kilogram, temporary import restrictions and incentives for public institutions to prioritize domestic rice.

Despite these efforts, producers still hold large volumes of unsold rice as imports, seen as more price-competitive, continue to dominate the market. Rice millers and agro-industrial operators in Saint-Louis, in the Senegal River valley, estimated their combined stocks of paddy and milled rice at more than 50,000 metric tons as of late March 2026, according to local media.

The situation in Ghana is more severe. Around one million metric tons of paddy rice remained unsold in November 2025 in a market saturated by low-cost imports, some of them smuggled. The crisis has forced some processors to halt operations and put significant pressure on producer incomes.

In April 2026, President John Dramani Mahama said he had allocated 200 million cedis ($18 million) to the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) to purchase surplus maize and rice from farmers and distribute them to public institutions, including secondary schools, hospitals and prisons, to stabilize the market, according to local media.

While these measures aim to ease short-term pressures, they highlight deeper structural challenges in West Africa’s rice sector. High production costs, perceived quality gaps and weak distribution systems continue to limit the competitiveness of local rice against imports, undermining governments’ food self-sufficiency ambitions.

Data from the Food and Agriculture Organization show that rice imports in West Africa rose nearly 32% over five years, increasing from 7.49 million metric tons in 2020 to 9.86 million metric tons in 2024.

Stéphanas Assocle