Debele Coulibaly, the deputy of the small village of Safekora in the financial center, “Every year we see a further decrease in rainfall – which means less production – and as a result we do not have enough food to consume, let alone sell.” He told me earlier this year
Sitting under a tree to shield herself from the scorching sun, she explained how farming has always been the only source of income for this village of 1,400 people, and how climate change has left her and countless others struggling to provide for their families. .
He told me that some villagers resorted to cutting down and selling trees to earn money and feed their families—a counterproductive practice that is accelerating desertification and ultimately exacerbating the worst effects of climate change.
Farmers in Safekora are not alone in their desperate fight against climate change. Mali, a country of more than 22 million people, has been hit hard by rising temperatures and declining rainfall. Between April 1 and April 5, an unprecedented heat wave caused temperatures to exceed 45 °C (113 °F) across the country. During the four-day heat wave, the Gabriel Toure University Hospital in Bamako, the capital of Mali, recorded more than 100 deaths.
The same hospital had recorded 130 deaths for the entire month of March before the temperature spike. According to a study by the World Weather Attribution (WWA), the unusually intense and deadly heat spell was caused by “man-made” climate change and likely caused hundreds, if not thousands, of excess deaths across the region. has brought The record-breaking temperature devastated Mali so much that the price of ice cubes in some parts of the country was higher than bread and milk.
Unfortunately in Mali, climate change is only one cause of the humanitarian crisis among many people. Prolonged political instability, protracted armed conflicts and seemingly endless economic struggles, combined with the impact of climate change on people’s livelihoods (according to the World Food Programme, agriculture – mainly subsistence production – accounts for 80% of employment in Mali) are the perfect storm of vulnerability in the country of millions. People are displaced, hungry and worried about the future. Today, about 7.1 million people, equivalent to a third of Mali’s population, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The national rate of severe acute malnutrition, the deadliest form of hunger, has risen from 4.2 percent last year to 11 percent today, the highest rate in a decade, according to the World Health Organization.
Especially in IDP sites across the country, thousands of them, especially children under the age of five, are in urgent need of nutritional care.
Idrissa, one of the 355,000 internally displaced, was displaced by the escalation of violence inside the country. He fled his conflict-torn village of Mopti earlier this year and made the 600-kilometer (373-mile) journey with his family to Bamako to start over.
I spoke with him at his family’s new temporary home in Commune VI, a refugee camp on the grounds of a former public school. “Since armed conflict and gun violence started in my village, I had to make a quick decision to destroy my family,” he told me. “I’ve already lost two of my relatives and I couldn’t stand by and watch the loss of my family members.”
His family may now be relatively safe from armed conflict, but their lives are not easy. The overcrowded refugee camp is filled with extended families experiencing extreme poverty. Even the animals in the camp are starving and there is a dangerous lack of sanitation, resulting in a high risk of disease outbreaks.
Edrisa currently lives in a one-bedroom tent with his wife, four children and elderly mother. With the meager income he earns from his part-time job as a security guard, he struggles to put food on the table, let alone look for more suitable accommodation.
He says he is also worried about his children, especially his ailing mother, whose many health problems are exacerbated by the terrible conditions in the camp. However, she does not have easy access to care.
The deteriorating security situation, coupled with the devastating impact of climate change on livelihoods and the atrocious conditions in most IDP camps, have left thousands of people across the country in need of urgent treatment for illnesses such as respiratory infections, acute malnutrition, malaria and diarrhoea. . Despite the increasing needs of the population for health care, public health centers in many regions, especially in the north and center, are not fully functional due to insecurity and lack of staff and equipment. As a result, an estimated 3.5 million people across the country, like Edrisa’s elderly mother, struggle to access health care.
Despite the lack of free medical facilities, the only suitable solution for Orissa is to take her mother to a private clinic. His salary does not cover the medical bills and the basic needs of their family. As a result, he often skips the one meal he allows himself a day in order to pay all his bills and feed his family.
He told me with a worried face that he longs for the life he once had.
“The life that was dear to us was stolen from us,” he said. “I was a shepherd. My life was great, I had to leave my beloved animals and my way of life behind. “My only wish is to return home and work in my field again.”
Koulibaly and Edrisa, like millions of others across Mali, are struggling to come to terms with their new reality and find a way forward for themselves and their families.
Philanthropic organizations like the one I work for, Muslim Hands, work with the financial community to reduce the devastating effects of climate change. These efforts aim to empower vulnerable families and build long-term resilience by providing sustainable livelihoods and opportunities for a fresh start.
Mali is experiencing a multifaceted humanitarian crisis that will only deepen without urgent help from the international community. However, beyond the efforts of organizations such as Muslim Hands, the world seems to be turning a blind eye to the suffering of people dealing with the combined consequences of a devastating conflict and a climate emergency. It is time for everyone, especially world leaders and international institutions, to turn their attention to finance and its perfect storm.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the position of Al Jazeera editorial board.
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