An elderly man sits inside a traditional hut in the village of Daman, 65km (40 miles) southeast of Bamako in this January 11, 2007 file photograph. Exacerbating the rural exodus in Mali is a tumble in the price of cotton -- the West African country's staple crop -- that has left many farmers in penury. The government blames the slump on U.S. subsidies totalling some $4 billion a year. To match feature MALI-AGRICULTURE/. Picture taken January 11, 2007.