Mali’s nomads face famine

After two weeks reporting the crisis both in Niger and then Mali, it was here in Timbuktu, in the far north of the affected region, that I first heard the word famine.

The causes of the crisis in Mali are similar to those in Niger: climate change has made life much more vulnerable; there was a poor harvest last year because of drought, followed by a plague of locusts, which seem to have struck here harder than Niger.

Forward planning has saved lives, robust and independent nomad groups have seen hardship before, but the coping mechanisms will not help if it does not rain as it should before the end of August.

BBC