In his audit report on the Management of the “Cotton” Input Subsidy, performance carried out in 2019, the Auditor General, Mr. Samba Alhamdou BABY had made recommendations from his Performance Audit for the Agricultural Campaigns 2015-2016, 2016- 2017 and 2017-2018 in order to correct the malfunctions observed and hope for better administrative and financial management. The cotton sector alone benefited from the Government’s share of the “cotton” input subsidy for a total amount of 75,349,626,942 FCFA or 41,631,676,685 FCFA in 2018-2019, 23,721,047 000 FCFA in 2019-2020 and 9,996,903,257 FCFA in 2020-2021. The performance audit of the management of the “cotton” input subsidy, carried out in 2019, revealed shortcomings which were the subject of recommendations and addressed to the Ministry of Rural Development (MDR), the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), the National Directorate of Agriculture (DNA), the Malian Company for the Development of Textiles (CMDT), Office of the Upper Niger Valley (OHVN), the National Fertilizer Committee (CNE) and the Regional Directorate for Social Development and Solidarity Economy (DRDSES). The cotton input subsidy contributes not only to increasing productivity but also to motivating farmers to become more involved in cotton growing. follow-up of said recommendations. The rate of recommendations fully implemented is 80%. Out of 24 recommendations made by the initial mission, twelve (12) are fully implemented, two (2) are partially implemented, one (1) is not implemented and nine (9) are not applicable (lapsed). or not applicable). The overall level of implementation of the recommendations is satisfactory.
Recommendations fully implemented:
The Minister in charge of the Economy and Finance and the Minister in charge of Agriculture have formalized the mandate for managing the agricultural input subsidy. The Minister responsible for Agriculture ensures that the subsidy for agricultural inputs is not granted to organizations of cotton producers who do not have a receipt. He also instructed the National Directorate of Agriculture not to send the documents constituting the reimbursement requests for the cotton input subsidy without the related analysis report. Finally, it ensures compliance with the conditions for concluding amendments by applying the prices set in the initial contracts.
The National Director of Agriculture has taken steps for the systematic application of safety measures in input stores. The National Director of Agriculture oversees the annual publication of data concerning the situation of controlled fertilizers in Mali. In addition, he publishes the results of the analysis of the fertilizer samples taken by the agents responsible for the control, in comparison with the guaranteed contents, and produces the analysis reports of the documents constituting the reimbursement requests. The Director General of the OHVN ensures the application of the rules governing public accounting in the context of the management of public funds at the level of the OHVN by putting an end to the functions of de facto accountant of the sector heads. CMDT ensures the application of rules and best practices for the management of fertilizer stocks.
The Regional Director of Social Development and Solidarity Economy of Sikasso ensures that cooperative societies comply with the provisions of the OHADA Uniform Act relating to their registration in the register of cooperative societies.
The Minister in charge of the Economy and Finance and the Minister in charge of Agriculture have taken all measures to draw up an appropriate manual of procedures for managing agricultural input subsidies.
Recommendations partially implemented:
The CEO of CMDT does not fully ensure compliance with storage standards at store level.
The General Manager of the OHVN does not fully ensure compliance with storage standards at store level.
Recommendations not implemented:
The Minister in charge of Agriculture has not taken any measures to create and make operational the Technical Unit in charge of controlling the subsidy of agricultural inputs.
Recommendations not applicable:
The Minister in charge of Agriculture has not ensured the establishment of a multi-year budget programming framework for the cotton input subsidy with clear objectives and indicators with annual targets to be achieved. It does not ensure compliance with the budget allocation for the cotton input subsidy. The Minister in charge of Agriculture does not ensure compliance with the terms of publication of notices of calls for tenders in order to promote free access to public procurement. Nor does it ensure that cotton input suppliers align their price with that of the most advantageous offer in accordance with the provisions of the specifications. Finally, it does not ensure the application of penalties for late delivery of fertilizers.
The Minister in charge of the Economy and Finance did not ensure the adoption of a legislative and regulatory framework governing agricultural input subsidies or compliance with the regulations relating to the safety of personnel in food shops. inputs. Nor has it taken any measures to limit the use of non-standard fertilizers.
The National Fertilizer Committee (CNE) has not communicated to the CMDT the appropriate measures for destroying stocks of non-standard fertilizers.
Source: BVG
Source: The Investigator
