ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of risk and market absence or malfunction in explaining household investment in new technologies and patterns of social organisation in a Sahelian farming community in Mali. It explores the farming system and village community, and examines both the kind of risks faced by people and the reasons why markets for different goods and services do not work well in this region. The cultivation season starts in June, when the first seed is sown; weeding takes up much of July and August; with the harvest, threshing and storage of both varieties stretching from late September until January. Many of the goods and services needed by people in Kala are not available on the market. In addition, there are no insurance markets that can help provide a cushion in the event of loss. Insurance markets for certain services, such as cover against crop failure, are frequently lacking both in the developing and the developed world.
