As neighbouring Niger’s food crisis lessens with international aid and a bountiful harvest is predicted next month, western Mali is praying for rain.
”We prayed for rain, for a good harvest,” a worshipper said as he emerged from the mosque in the small town of Aite, 650km west of the capital, Bamako.
The Kayes region, along with Mopti to the east and Gao and Tombouctou further north, all lying above 14 degrees of latitude, were the worst hit by last year’s locust swarms and drought that ravaged the Sahel countries.
But whereas in Niger farmers and officials say the rain has returned this year and crops promise to be abundant come September, in Mali it is a different story.
Fingering his prayer beads, town councillor Kalifa Camara was sweating with anxiety as well as the heat.
”The situation is really difficult in this region,” he said. ”Last year’s harvest was bad, really bad, and it’s still not raining.”
Showing the family grain store, which is meant to hold enough to feed 19 people, Camara said that two years ago he filled it with 30 cartloads.
Last year, he had just two, and for this year he can only cross his fingers and pray.
About 20km to the south, in the Aourou district, the signs bode ill — streambeds dry, fields unworked, wild monkeys foraging for food near to the roads, and cattle wandering in search of pasture.
”There are some places around here where the farmers have not even sown yet because of the lack of rain, when they usually do it in July,” said Boubacar Fakaba Sissoko, an official at the town hall in Djelebou.
”The next harvest is likely to be bad, when we are already short of food.”
In the neighbouring villages of Sirmoulou and Madina, farmers seek shade under the trees, cursing the lack of rain that has kept them idle.
One of them, who gave his name as Makan, explained: ”Before, we harvested the crops, filled our granaries and sold the surplus to have a bit of cash.
Today, we we only think about survival, while tomorrow is in the hands of God.”
According to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), Mali’s agricultural output fell by 42% last year, and was 25% down on the average of the five previous years.
While Lansry Nana Yaya Haidara, the government’s commissioner for food security, says there is no risk of famine, she acknowledges that one million people, or nearly 10% of the population, are having problems feeding themselves.
The government’s emergency stocks of food are shrinking fast, and having met the most urgent needs it has launched an appeal for international aid.
The WFP called for $5,8-million from donor countries at the end of June to help Mali face food shortages. So far, according to the agency’s office in Bamako, only 14% of that sum has been forthcoming. — Sapa-AFP