In the cotton growing areas of Southern Mali, further food security improvement and populations income rise will depend on productivity increase through biomass recycling and/or diversification of activities. The objective of our study is to identify and analyze the relationships existing between practices of biomass management and the performance of farmers in terms of food security and agricultural income. In the cotton growing area, achieving security in cereal production remains the main purpose of production for farmers. The levels of crop yields and production means (equipment, labor, cultivated area, herd size) determine land rotation and therefore the share of cotton area in medium to large farms (10-40 ha). This is no longer true in the case of smallholders (less than 7 ha) which in some cases produce cotton solely to gain access to input supply. The use of mineral fertilizers, although not fully homogenous, does not vary much, unlike the quantity of organic manure available in the farm, which affects the crop yields. These manure quantities are linked to the herd size and to the practices of manure production. Food security is generally obtained in normal years except for the 2004/2005 growing season, a particularly bad one. Agricultural income varies quite a lot among households. These disparities are often linked to the practice of biomass management and to the means of production's availability. However, these incomes are globally low and below the poverty line in Mali. These overall poor economic performances, even for well-equipped households, raise questions on the socioeconomic sustainability of the system.