Honni soit qui Mali pense

"The reason? Mali has refused to privatize its cotton industry, which is integral to the country’s social and economic well-being. $72 million worth of aid is being withheld from the country (in which 90% of people live in poverty) for this reason. In 2004, the Bank withheld $50 million because of the Malian government’s refusal to end price support systems for cotton farmers, designed to mitigate the impacts of price decline fueled in no small part by rich country subsidies of their own industries (see below). When Bamako finally caved in and agreed to expose its poor farmers to the unjust international system, prices immediately dropped by 20% and poverty increased by 4.6%.(15)"

Extensive, well researched article.