Drought in Mali 2010-11

Causes of the Weather:
1. Gao, Mali is a drought prone region
2. Recent years the rain has arrived late, and rainfall is reduced Officials in Gao have said that climate changes have meant more frequent spells of drought with the dry season in 2010 lasting for 8 months rather than 6
3. In the past decade (2000-1010) Mali faced 3 droughts, all of which led to major food shortages: 2005, 2007 and 2010
4. Climate change specialists claim that annual average rainfall volumes have been decreasing across the Sahel since the 1970s. With the rate of rainfall reduction in the region being 15-30% (Mali is at 20% reduction)
Impacts on the People
1. The chronic lack of rain & spreading conflict has led to an increase in children suffering from malnutrition which is exacerbated by local’s lack of understanding that malnutrition is a sickness and many don’t go to a health center until they seen symptoms such as pain
2. Gao, Mali is a drought prone, chronically food insecure region. Even when harvests are good its not enough to feed the population & food has to be imported from other parts of the country & other countries
3. Livestock dying due to lack of water & food one family of 6 lost 30/ 70 animals
4. People finding it harder to find pastures and water for animals
5. Longer dry spells mean fewer crops
6. 2/3rds of household heads in one village had left due to longer dry spells & hardships. People in the village cannot survive due to lack of food & poor living conditions.
7. Khalani village – people forced to skip meals & animals dying
8. More than 100,000 people fled drought choked villages from February-March 2011 (according to UN)
9. Mali Red Cross Nutrition Program states that 195 of Mali’s 703 municipalities faced food insecurity  3.5million people affected by food shortages
Why are Malians so affected by the drought?
1. Mali’s 15million people are largely farmers and herders, many of whom live a nomadic lifestyle many subsistence farms go dry, and villagers are becoming more dependent on increasingly costly food imports. People have already exhausted their food stocks
2. Mali’s major rivers have shrunk following a year of meager rains, leaving rice paddies dry economic loss of income This has resulted in a doubling in prices of cereal in Mali
3. Chaotic regional migration of millions of people – exacerbated by migration from war
4. Since January 1st 172,000s Malians have fled their homes
5. Since January 1st 172,000s Malians have fled their homes Water shortages have been aggravated by the return of migrant workers that fled Libya during the war.
6. Internal Displacement due to conflict has exacerbated problems: Islamist militant groups control 2/3rds of Mali and are seizing more territory – there is no refugee camp in the north – large numbers have fled south  174,000 IDPs and 269,000 have fled to Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger.
Effects on Transport
1. Poor infrastructure and insecurity have limited humanitarian access, and aid organizations are struggling to assess the humanitarian situation as well as deliver aid to the affected communities.
2. UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has allocated more than US$14 million for aid to affected communities of Malian refugees in Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger. It has also given $1 million to the World Food Programme to secure air transportation to deliver aid within Mali.
What were the impacts on the economy?
1. Failing crops
2. Husbands are forced to move to find work elsewhere – leaving the village population depleted.
3. Long period of drought = this is exacerbating long standing problems like desertification & challenging the nomadic abilities of farming stock herders, pastors & fishermen.  5-6 fish species have disappeared in recent years & rivers are shrinking in size due to hotter temperatures & sand entering the river from the Sahara – making the river bed shallower & narrower.
4. People having to borrow money & getting into debt
5. Indigenous plants that are rich in vitamins are dying out
Management Responses
1. Short Term
  1. Water pumps from Niger River to irrigate farming land & to continue to harvest enough food to eat
  2. Oxfam installed water pumps to provide clean water to reduce water born diseases
  3. Red Cross have been distributing food aid
  4. Malian government have been assisting farmers by providing meteorological information via local radio stations & providing guidance on which seeds to plant & when, and to adapt to shifting rain patterns.
  5. Mali Red Cross Recuperation & Intensive Nutritional Education Unit – 10 available beds 10-15 admitted per month
2. Long Term
  1. Adaptation projects are costly & more are needed across Mali & West Africa to help some of the poorest & most vulnerable to cope with the impacts of climate change.
  2. Education of villagers to raise awareness about malnutrition in 245 villages in the region, teaching people how to prevent severe hunger among their families and friends
  3. Mali Red Cross are trying to reintroduce indigenous plants that are rich in vitamins to reduce malnutrition: Morenga Tree – leaves make sauce for couscous. Had died out during droughts.
3. How Successful was it managed?
  1. Some measures managed by the Malian government are helping to better adapt people to the changes – farmers can now irrigate their fields using motor pumps which bring water from the Niger river.
  2. Now: Malian government is assisting farmers by providing meteorological information via local radio stations, and giving them guidance on which seeds to plant and when, to adapt to shifting rain patterns.
  3. There was conflict by local people when the Red Cross began visiting pregnant women and children in their villages difficult for people to accept that the Red Cross were coming to measure & weigh children
  4. The World Bank Group’s pledges for the next two years will support major regional development priorities such as social safety nets to help families weather the worst effects of economic adversity and natural disasters, improve infrastructure and create opportunities in rural areas.

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Drought in Mali 2010-11

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