Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Mali

Nutritional crisis in Mali

Attachments

“Faced with the nutritional crisis raging in Mali, humanitarian actors are calling for mobilization for an effective, coordinated response. Over 500,000 people need immediate assistance. ”

Since 2012, Mali has been plagued by a series of conflicts that have contributed significantly to a succession of food and nutrition crises, with disastrous consequences for populations. Armed conflicts have forced populations to flee affected areas, leaving all resources behind. These populations consequently require aid to cover basic needs. This situation is also likely to increase tensions between communities.

In addition to conflict, which exacerbates food insecurity, conditions are worsening due to a predictable phenomenon: the lean season. Currently underway, this period between planting and harvesting of crops when food supplies are at their lowest, is particularly hard on vulnerable households who, without assistance, have no means of ensuring their food supply, especially as the few resources that do exist are shared in solidarity between host communities and internally displaced persons (IDP).

The RAPID SMART[1] survey conducted between May 27 to June 11, 2024 as well as the ENSAN[2] report published in July 2024 clearly demonstrate the causality between the ongoing conflicts and the alarming food and nutrition situation.

The nutritional status of children under 5 in Gao's IDP sites is cause for concern, having risen from 15.1% global acute malnutrition (GAM) in 2023 to 30.1% in 2024.

Even more alarming are rates of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in children aged between 6 and 59 months, which rose from 4.2% last year to 11% at present, the highest level in a decade.

Although there has been a reduction of levels of GAM in the Ménaka sites, they are still in a critical situation (over 15%), with prevalence in IDP sites rising from 26.9% GAM and 8.2% SAM in 2023 to 20.5% GAM and 4.8% SAM in 2024.

Act now to save lives

We must act immediately to avoid a disastrous increase in malnutrition rates in the most affected areas: the “cercles” of Gao, Ménaka, Kidal[3], Ansongo , Bourem, Koro, Bankass, Douentza, Gourma-Rharous, as well as the IDP sites of Gao, Mopti, Ménaka, Ansongo, Bourem and Bamako. This data corroborates the ENSAN of February and published in July this year, which shows that the highest prevalences of moderate and severe food insecurity are observed in the regions of Kidal (53.5%), Ménaka (50.2%), Gao (30.7%) and Timbuktu (22.1%).

The nutrition cluster, led by the Ministry of Health and Social Development and UNICEF and co-lead by ACF, has called for an immediate response of 27.2 million USD to meet the urgent nutritional needs of 517,695 people in high-priority zones during the lean season, from June to August 2024.

It should be noted that funding requirements for the 2024 emergency nutrition response are estimated at 74.7 million USD, of which only 15.6 million USD (20%) have been secured. It is imperative to provide the remaining 59.3M USD for an optimal response to the nutritional crisis. Furthermore, food security needs for 2024 amount to 222 million USD, of which only 40 million USD (15%)[4] have been committed to date.

We call for the immediate mobilization of all stakeholders to provide emergency food and nutritional aid to host populations and priority sites for displaced persons.