Attachments
Situation
- Recurrent natural disasters and severe poverty contribute to hunger in Mali, while civil conflict since 2012 has exacerbated food insecurity and spurred population displacement. In 2018, an estimated 4.6 million people are food insecure and 1.1 million people are affected by or at risk of malnutrition, according to the UN. As of September, the Government of Mali and the UN also report approximately 77,000 internally displaced persons within Mali and 140,000 Malian refugees in Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger.
- Most poor households across Mali will face Minimal (IPC 1) levels of acute food insecurity between October 2018 and January 2019, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET).* Normal rainfall may facilitate average to above-average national cereal production during the late-2018 main harvest, and FEWS NET also expects food prices—which have been relatively stable in recent months—to decrease as farmers collect their crops, potentially increasing access to food. However, localized production shortfalls or pest damage may undermine food security in some areas; flooding between late July and September has damaged fields and pasture, destroyed grain stores, hampered livestock production and resulted in some deaths. In addition, civil conflict in northern and central Mali has prompted population displacement and disrupted normal livelihoods and trade activities. Many conflict- or flood-affected households will require humanitarian assistance and face Stressed (IPC 2) conditions through early 2019, FEWS NET reports.