This year, the rains that usually arrive every June, failed in Gao, threatening the livelihoods of thousands of people. Scientists attribute these erratic weather patterns in the Sahel region to climate change. When rainfall finally arrived six weeks later, it only fell inconsistently, flooding some areas while others were left without a drop. Cattle breeders and farmers in Mali have been adapting their way of life for thousands of years to the specific calendar and environment of the Sahel region but the balance is shifting: “Since 1980s, the sun has got closer to our heads: it is hotter and our animals are dying due to the late rains,” said Arahmat, whose family’s livelihood consists primarily of the farming of livestock. 

This means that families can no longer rely on nutritious animal milk to feed their children to ensure their health. Most people in the region have lost at least half of their livestock. In the absence of pasture, farmers are forced to buy fodder to keep their animals alive. But food prices have quadrupled, and families are depleting their food stocks. Selling the animals is not an option either. “This year the price of animals has hit rock bottom. We sold five goats for a sack of millet, when it would normally cost one,” said Arahmat. 

Action Against Hunger has launched an emergency intervention to assist 16,500 people at risk of malnutrition. “We have set up 21 distribution sites in Gao for more than 2,700 families. Between September and December, two food distributions will be organised every month to try and stem the crisis and prevent malnutrition rates from increasing. Every family with a child under three years will receive 30kg of millet and three litres of oil, as well as therapeutic food for each acutely malnourished child,” explained Samantha Sarria, Action Against Hunger’s Food Security Coordinator. 

The organisation is also implementing market gardening activities for women. “We provide seeds and training to help families build up a food reserve that they can revert to during difficult times. It’s similar to forming small cooperatives. A drip-feed irrigation system has been set up to ration the water as much as possible,” explained Action Against Hunger’s Oumar Maïga.

DFID is providing £365,000 to Action Against Hunger’s emergency intervention in Gao in eastern Mali, helping 16,500 people. The organisation has been present in Mali since 1995 implementing nutrition, health, water and sanitation and food security programmes.

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Nurturing children back to health