Hundredtusinder af fattige småbønder sidder i flygtningelejre eller mangler stort set alt efter konflikten mellem de vestlige styrker og regeringen på den ene side og islamistiske ekstremister på den anden i det i forvejen barske Sahel-land.
ROME, 15 February 2013: With Mali’s next agricultural season set to begin in May, there is an urgent need to help displaced farmers return to their lands and resume food production when and where the evolving security situation permits, FAO said Friday.
Malian Minister for Agriculture Baba Berthé stressed the importance of targeting assistance to returning farmers in areas which have seen an improvement in their security situation, as well as the need to build the resilience (modstandskraft) of smallholder farmers across all of Mali.
“As the security situation continues to evolve, FAO, our partner agencies and the international community must do everything we can to help the government support farmers returning to their land, where it is safe to do so, and get back to growing food,” said FAOs Director-General, José Graziano da Silva, adding:
“Mali simply cannot afford to write off the next growing season”.
All told, an estimated two million people in the poor West African country are food insecure. Half of them are in the north.
But the lingering effects of the 2011-12 food and nutrition security crisis, brought on by a combination of drought, high grain prices and environmental degradation, coupled with internal displacements (fordrevne folk), mean that another million in the south remain food insecure.
An evolving situation
More than 400.000 people have fled from their homes since conflict erupted in northern Mali last year, further exacerbating (forværre) the pre-existing crisis.
Many of the displaced are farmers, who remain in refugee camps or host families in neighboring Burkina Faso Mauritania, and Niger.
Other smallholders have temporarily relocated to southern Mali, placing strains on local food resources.
Although some people have started to return home and resume farming, they have not been able to cultivate their land as they have little or no access to the tools, seeds and animals necessary to begin production.
Meanwhile, despite improvements in the security situation in the north, most markets there remain closed.
Families are relying on household food stocks, and will be forced to turn to markets just as the lean (magre) season starts and prices are highest.
They could resort to consuming or selling off seed stock intended for planting, as well as selling off other assets, like farming tools and supplies, to get by.
The World Food Programme is working to deliver emergency food supplies to the displaced, targeting life-saving food relief to some 564.000 people in Mali and neighboring countries.
But in their meeting Berthé and Graziano da Silva stressed that in addition to this critical emergency relief, jump-starting local food production ahead of the upcoming growing season – which runs from May through July – has emerged as a critical need.
Resolving the ongoing conflict and restoring security throughout the country will be essential to improving Mali’s food security over the long term.
Building resilience, restoring livelihoods
Læs videre på http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/170042/icode
