Joliba's work is not in
the area of the recent rebellion in Mali, and is continuing
as normal. Following the recent coup in Mali, an interim
democratic government is again in place pending democratic
elections.
Mali is experiencing its
worst drought for 30 years. Nearly half the population
in our region have had no harvest since 2010 and cannot
expect another one before September 2012. Many people
have completely run out of food and are surviving on a
little boiled wild grass that has no nutritional value.
Severe malnutrition is widespread. As a small organisation
on the ground with local staff in place, our own bank
account in the area, we are able to get immediate help
through to families who are most at risk. Please continue
to support both our long-term livelihoods work and our
crisis work in neighbouring districts, as it is vitally
needed.
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It is an incredibly hard
year in Mali. As there was so little rain in 2011, many
people lost their crops, and there is hardly any pasture
for cattle. There was a harvest in 2010, so people have
had some millet stored in their granaries, but this is
now running out. Most of the able-bodied men have left
their villages to look for labouring work in Malian towns,
in Ivory Coast coco plantations, or have even travelled
to Central Africa to look for work, and a means to buy
food. Sadly, in such a widespread drought in the Sahel,
only a small number will be able to find work and to return
to their families.
We would like to raise £34,000 to prevent a food
crisis in five districts on the Dogon Plains: Madougou,
Doma, Binedama, Karakindé, and Naye. These districts
are particularly badly affected, are not within any NGO
aid zone, and for many families the food has already run
out. Please help us support people - mainly women and
children left at home - to prevent an emergency.
Dead millet crops on the Dogon plains
We have begun work on
the following activities but need urgently to raise more
funds for them:
· Fulani Pastoralists are the most severely affected.
As there is no grazing and cattle are dying, we would
like to provide supplementary feed for the small numbers
of cattle (their lifeline) that the Fulani own, which
will keep cows in milk. Milk sales are the main source
of income for women, so this will help women to buy food,
as well as reducing malnutrition in children. We would
like to raise at least £12,000 for rich cottonseed
residue and cattleseed cake for cattle in 31 villages
in 3 districts.
· providing microcredit to women in villages with
no harvest, so that they can raise the income to buy food.
We would like to provide £18,000 revolving credit
for market gardening and other income activities in 45
villages.
· supporting food-for-work schemes in villages
where there is too little water for income generation.
This would include work on erosion control, work on building
water-retaining ponds to grow vegetables, building contour
walls, or collecting locust eggs. (£8,000). This
would also greatly help long-term development.
Thankyou
to all of you who have recently given us generous support
for the lost harvest, or who support us regularly. This
email will let you know how your kind help is being used.
You will be pleased to know that our project area that
has benefitted from land management and tree planting
schemes has had a reasonable harvest, which shows just
how useful this has been.
For those of you who are
still thinking of supporting our work, any help you could
give would be greatly appreciated. The measures we are
putting in place are low cost and will have a much bigger
impact than waiting for conditions to worsen. If you can
support our work, please either send us a cheque, or make
a bank transfer, rather than using a credit card facility,
as this way funds will arrive quickly. If you have Gift
Aid, we will claim under this. Our bank details are:
Triodos Bank, Bristol
Sort Code: 16 58 10
Account Name: Joliba Trust
Account Number: 02059700
Dune stabilisation
Cost per hectare per year £1,536
Over 100 hectares need to be stabilised
School
arboretum and training for schoolchildren
In tree management cost per school £1,260
(waiting list of 5 schools)
Regeneration
of forest and pasture resources through
establishment of set-aside land parcels in 2 districts
(this includes seed resources, workshops with villagers,
local government and nomads, and guarding by Nature Protection
Societies, which is much cheaper than fencing. £2,799
People use trees for every aspect of their daily life,
and dried leaves are the main element of diet. Loss of
trees, pasture, and cattle is the main reason why much
of Mali and Niger have become the poorest countries in
the world and are currently very prone to famine.
Assisted
Natural regeneration of tree cover in
two districts £3,360
(a million new trees were grown by using this method in
2009)
Midwifery
Training (we are very low on funds for
this)
Salary of qualified Midwife to carry out training with
village birth attendants for one year £2,100
