Attachments
Mali - Key Message Update January 2024
Key Messages
Stressed (IPC Phase 2) outcomes in the Liptako Gourma region and in the north of the country will continue until May 2024, due to the deterioration of livelihoods caused by conflict, leading to difficulties in accessing usual sources of income and food. Crisis (IPC Phase 3)outcomes will continue in Ménaka, due to the disruption of usual sources of income and food, and humanitarian assistance, where over 50 percent of the population is displaced and the use of crisis coping strategies are common. Given the expected atypically early lean season, a likely deterioration to Emergency (IPC Phase 4) is expected from May onwards in Ménaka, due to the sharp deterioration in livelihoods, the exacerbation of food access difficulties linked to the inaccessibility of markets, and very high food prices, which will generate a significant consumption deficit.
The 8.4 percent increase in security incidents (ACLED) compared to last year, linked to the intensification of military offensives underway in the country, has led to repression of the civilian population by armed groups and unusual population displacements. Large disruptions to economic activities, market supplies and even intermittent blockades in the Timbuktu, Gao, Ménaka and Kidal regions which further disrupt livestock movements, food assistance and access to basic social services, are significantly reducing the ability of poor households to meet their food and non-food needs, particularly in Liptako Gourma and in parts of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu.
The seasonal improvement in household access to food has been observed in agropastoral areas, thanks to the availability of the 2023/2024 harvest and the seasonal fall in cereal prices, as well as the seasonal improvement in livestock/cereal terms of trade for pastoral households. However, in the conflict-affected central and northern areas of the country, above average food prices continue to limit poor households' access to food, due to the sharp deterioration in their livelihoods as a result of conflict.
Off-season crops are progressing at an average rate across the country, both for market garden crops and for rice and flood recession crops, for which nurseries and seedlings are being installed. Harvests of market garden produce and the establishment of rice nurseries offer average food and income opportunities for poor households in the areas concerned. However, the decline in harvested areas due to low water availability and insecurity will only provide below-average incomes, particularly in insecure areas.