Water and Wood in Mali
This is Paul Butler’s second report from Mali. A third report will be posted soon.
It is hard not to love a land where every conversation begins with “Is your family healthy? How is your mother, your father, your wife and children?” and continues by asking about peace. But that does not make it an easy place to live.
For Mali is a land of contrasts, full of warm-hearted people eking out a living under the most difficult conditions. Poverty is widespread. While per capita annual income is $380, making it the 20th poorest country on Earth, the latest United Nations Human Development Report (released in 2003) ranks Mali as the 184th worst country in the world (out of 187 to be living in)—in terms of its annual per capita income, mean education level (fourth grade), average lifespan (49), and infant mortality rate (119 out of 1000 live births).
The challenges facing Mali are enormous. One underlying problem for much of the population is the prolonged annual dry season, which lasts seven to eight months, from November and May. Since 1968, the country has been experiencing a lengthy and devastating drought. Precipitation has dropped 30 percent, while at the same time Mali’s population has exploded.
Women’s fertility is very high, (6.7 children per woman in 1989) compared with the world average of 3.6 children for the same year and Africa’s average of 6.3 children per woman. Between 1960 and 1976 the country’s population grew from 4.1 million to 6.4 million, representing an annual growth rate of 2.82 percent. If the current fertility trends continue, the country’s population will top 19 million by 2020, compounding the demand for water.
Droughts are a natural hazard in Mali. Yet, while the quantity of fresh water per person per year in Mali has declined from 15,853 m3 in 1955 to 6,729 m3 in 1990, Mali does not appear to be suffering from a serious national water scarcity.
However, as is often the case, statistics belie the harsh realities. Less than half of the overall population (46 percent) had access to potable water in 1992, and agriculture, the cornerstone of the Malian economy, can only be practiced for a quarter of the year. Agriculture and rampant deforestation for energy sources simply exacerbate the problem. One characteristic of Malian agriculture is its nomadic aspect, which is linked both to insufficient rainfall and to the need to feed a growing population. Farmers tend to cultivate and graze their cattle (there are 5 million in the region of Mopti alone) close to river banks and waterholes resulting in siltation and river bank degradation, further reducing water quality and quantity.
Firewood is the country’s principal source of energy, with 93 percent of all households using it for fuel in 1987. To meet this demand, more than a million acres of trees a year are being cleared and burned. If prevailing demographic tendencies continue, consumption of firewood will more than triple between 1987 and 2020. In fact, based on an average annual consumption of 650 to 750 kilograms per person, firewood needs may increase from their 1987 level of 5.4 million tons to 18 million tons in 2020. Thus, over the period 1987 to 2020, nearly 14 percent of the national territory will be laid to waste.
What can be done to resolve the twin problems of water and wood? At least 59 organizations have anti-desertification programs in Mali, so is there any need for Rare?
