Thursday, October 27, 2022

Sahel is Suffering

 Violence has forced 4.5 million out of their homes in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, a 200% increase in the past two years. With 80% of the population of the Sahel relying on agriculture to survive, being displaced means they lose access to their lands and their livestock.

The suffering of millions of people in Mali and the wider Sahel region is rooted in the deadly combination of conflict and the climate crisis. Caught between advancing deserts, erratic weather and violence, entire communities are being forced to leave their homes, livestock and livelihoods behind.

Climate change is a daily reality for Mali. Entire lakes, such as Lake Faguibine, have dried up, erasing entire ecosystems and forcing communities to move. Desertification is spreading and ground water is becoming increasingly scarce, pressuring farmers. Mali lost 90,000 hectares of yield in 2021 due to drought, impacting the livelihood of more than 3 million Malians. This resulted in a 10.5% decrease in cereal production across the country.

Climate change, conflict force communities in the Sahel region into desperate state - Mali | ReliefWeb

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