Addressing the issues of food sovereignty and security as well as work and employment within the social and solidarity economy (SSE) necessarily involves exploring connections between State actors, grassroots professionals, civil society organisations, local communities and the private sector.
The ability of social economy enterprises to adddress systemic crises, their importance in promoting employment, especially for youth and women, as well as their impact on the income of poorest populations, convinced the Malian government of the merits of creating a framework to encourage their development. Moreover, the obligation to guarantee food sovereignty and security, especially within the context of demographic challenges, climate change and repetitive food crises, has led the government to promote agricultural as a key element of its national strategy. It remains clear, however, that in order to ensure the sustainability of these measures, they must be supported by national policies co-created by the State and the various other actors.

This case study focuses on:
1. public policies that support the social and solidarity economy;
2. the conditions for a successful dialogue and for public/community partnerships to jointly develop policies and implement initiatives;
3. the results of public policy that promotes or reinforces the social economy;
4. the contributions of the social and solidarity economy towards the developmental goals of the targeted public policy.
The paper summarizes the results of the Malian case study on both work and employment and food sovereignty and security, in connection with the social and solidarity economy.

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