MAIN ACTIVITIES

Following the 2005 food crisis, the country realized the importance of malnutrition in Sahel and decided to make the monitoring and treatment of acute malnutrition a priority. ACF is committed to support the integration of nutrition in public health facilities, and work on mitigating the causes of hunger.

Nutrition

• Implementation of the national treatment protocol of acute malnutrition
• Awareness and education on good nutrition practices
• Support to health centres for the treatment of malnutrition
• Care to more than 5,000 children
• Education and awareness on good hygiene practices, dietary practices and child care
• Nutrition surveys

Food Security

• Diversification of agricultural production
• Improvement of availability and accessibility to food
• Strengthening of organizational capacity building of cooperatives
• Strengthening of organizational and trade capacity building of smallholders
• Collaboration with the Alert System

Water and sanitation

• Construction and rehabilitation of water points and sanitation facilities
• Training in management of water and sanitation infrastructures
• Awareness and training on hygiene practices
• Training to civil society organizations

HUMANITARIAN CONTEXT
 

The poverty problems in Mali are structural. The territory has a vast area of 1.2 million kilometres, but two-thirds is desert or half-desert. Sahel constantly suffers from droughts, exacerbating each year the food insecurity of the most vulnerable populations. The desertification advance threatens livestock, source of survival for many families: pastoral communities struggle to access water resources. A significant decrease of available biomass was detected. At large scale, we must consider that the drought cycle that began 70 years ago is not finished yet.

After the peace agreement with the Tuareg in 1995, the conflict reappeared in 2008 with new rising of violence in the north. Add to this is the increasing presence in the country of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Foreign relief workers are their favourite targets. ACF had significantly reduced its presence in Gao because of terrorist’s activities: workers evacuation, intermittent interruptions of programs or development projects remotely.

Despite significant efforts to facilitate access to basic services and socio-economic and human indicators slightly rising, the reduction of poverty over the last 10 years is not significant (only 0.3% in annual average). Mali remains one of the world's poorest countries. Moreover, the country is particularly vulnerable to price fluctuations on international agricultural markets. It is likely to face a new food crisis in 2012 due to erratic rainfall and poor harvest in 2011.