Sorghum is among the top three crops produced by farmers in Mali, and it is these self-same farmers who underpin the country’s sorghum markeng system. A study by ICRISAT West and Central Africa shows that, about 27% of sorghum produced is sold into spot markets, indicang that sor- ghum is sold to buyers once farmers have determined the quan- ty necessary to cover their own consumpon. However, lile informaon is known on the value added and the economic performance of sorghum supply markeng in Mali du- ring harvest and planng periods. • baCkground Analyze the economic performance of sorghum grain markeng during harvest and planng or lean periods. The specific objecves are: Idenfy the spot markets, the actors involved in the sorghum sup- ply chain and their role in both periods; Evaluate the value that each actor add to the supply chain; Evaluate the profitability of sorghum markeng. • objeCtives The Supply management chain framework is used to analyze the surplus distribuon among chain parcipant; The Structure, Conduct and Performance concept is applied to un- derstand the structure of the system, the conduct of the various actors and how this results in an overall performance that changes the system’s structure over me; The value added and market margin approaches are used to com- pute the values that each category of actors added in sorghum markeng. • methodology Structure and conduct : Sorghum markeng system is vercally integrated (see in Figure 1) and consists of five categories of actors: farmers, collectors, wholesa- lers, retailers and consumers. Farmers, the first major players in the sorghum value-chain use more than 70% of the quanty produced for their own consump- on and sold the rest to market intermediaries. Collectors, divided in two types: collector-producers and speciali- zed-collectors usually live in the producon areas and buy sor- ghum grains on a weekly basis for sale to wholesalers on the spot local market. Wholesalers, divided in two types: local-wholesalers and external wholesalers provide financial, transport support out to Mali’s urban centers (Bamako, Mop, Sikasso, Ségou etc.) and store sor- ghum grains. In general, collectors are working on their behalf. Retailers usually buy sorghum from wholesalers but their role in the markeng of sorghum is very low. Performance: Sorghum sellers obtain a relavely high profit and that they gene- rate interesng value added in the sorghum supply management; Wholesalers add more value to sorghum grain than collectors. In addion, wholesalers get the higher markeng margin compare to both types of collectors (see in Table1); For 100 kg of sorghum sold in the market, the total value added is about for 13,937 FCFA. The share of each actor in this value is in- dicated in Figure 2. • results and main aChievements • reCommendations Enhance integraon of actors in the sorghum markeng; Encourage the use of sorghum in other sectors as the poultry sec- tor; Policy makers should pay aenon to manage the scale instru- ments. •Current partnerships ICRISAT sorghum breeding teams, namely Fred Raunde & Eva W. Raunde; An Bè Jigui project for the funding support SUPPLY MARKETING OF SORGHUM IN MALI Alphonse Singbo 1 & Bréhima Sangare 1 1 International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid and Tropics Corresponding author email: [email protected]