MALI: The paradox of plenty – Hvor slemt det kan gå med folkesundheden og ernærings-tilstanden i et programsamarbejdsland for Danida, når landbrugets varer går til eksport
SIKASSO, 29 December 2009 (IRIN) – Sikasso is one of Mali’s most fertile regions, but under-five malnutrition is as high here as in the Sahelian countrys barren north, according to government health data.
Health workers and agricultural experts explain the paradox as a combination of a lack of nutritional awareness, and the concentration on export-oriented cash crop production.
– We are the countrys economic purse (pengepung), said the Agriculture Ministry’s Sikasso representative, Seydou Keita. He told IRIN the southern region has traditionally been the top cotton and fruit producer.
– But the problem is we do not consume our wealth. We are rich and malnou-rished. Our resi-dents consume calories, but they are not getting nourished, he noted.
The national average for acute malnutrition was 15 percent in 2006, when the most recent government health survey was done; the rate in Sikasso was 16 percent.
The government of this vast West African country and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are working on a nutritional survey; results are due in 2010.
Malnutrition care
Malnutrition is a leading cause of under-five deaths in Sikasso, according to regional hospital paediatric director, Eugène Dembélé.
– Despite the efforts of health centres and their NGO-partners, childhood malnutrition continues to be a worrisome situation in the region, he stressed.
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