in Segou Region, Mali, West Africa. 2022 Mali drought and hunger crisis.
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Contributor:
Jake Lyell / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
2PTY42RFile size:
128.1 MB (5 MB Compressed download)Releases:
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8192 x 5464 px | 69.4 x 46.3 cm | 27.3 x 18.2 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
18 December 2022Location:
Ségou Region, Mali, West AfricaMore information:
This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage.
Rokia Sako (38) is a hardworking and industrious wife and mother of three. Despite the challenges of living in an agrarian community and relying solely on rainfall to grow her family’s food, she still makes sure she feeds her children at least two meals a day. Half the year, from January to June, she is even able to feed her children three times a day. In addition to the daily challenges she faces, her last born son, 6-year-old Baboua, has special needs and experiences mental and physical disabilities. “My children have never experienced anything like [malnutrition], because I spend all my energy on providing for them, ” says Rokia. “I do my best so that they may not lack food. Many in this village here are suffering from malnutrition, and those whose children are undergoing that situation, I think are very courageous. You will see some children that look like that are going to die. They look so skinny to the point they are not human. But I have not allowed them to get to this point.” Despite Rokia’s best efforts, hungry times do occur in the family. “[Hunger] brings a lot of problems, ” she says. “Because after a good meal you can chat and share good words amongst each other. But when we’re hungry there is no chatting. There are no good words. The man of the family will say to me, ‘You have not done your job cooking today.’ And I will say, ‘You are not the man of the family if you don’t bring home any food.’ So it brings quarreling and misunderstandings in the family.” During the height of the hungry season of 2022, Lutheran World Relief began a project selling food and fertilizer at reduced prices to more than 1, 200 vulnerable households in the Ségou Region. Each chosen household paid 59, 000 CFA ($100 US) for a kit that included 50 kilograms of millet grain, 50 kilograms of rice, and two sacks of fertilizer. Knowing this could be the only opportunity to find affordable food in the near future, Rokia jumped at the chance to