A muslim woman in traditional colorful dress winnows her millet grain crop on her farm in Segou Region, Mali, West Africa. 2022 Mali drought and hunger crisis.
Image details
Contributor:
Jake Lyell / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
2PTYBMYFile size:
128.1 MB (4.4 MB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - yes | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
8192 x 5464 px | 69.4 x 46.3 cm | 27.3 x 18.2 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
19 December 2022Location:
Ségou Region, Mali, West AfricaMore information:
This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage.
Deba Souko (46) lives in a family compound of mud-constructed houses with her four sons, daughter, daughter-in-law and grandson in Ségou Region, Mali. Most of the time, she cares for her young grandson, Aliou (12 months) so that his mother can work as a hired farm worker in fields throughout the area and bring income back home. Sometimes Deba also performs hired farm work herself. Confined much of the time to the family compound, Deba usually does the cooking for the family, a task that is becoming less and less frequent as time progresses and the harvest storehouses become depleted. “These times are difficult, ” she says. “[Eating] three times a day is not a certainty. When we have lunch and there is something leftover, we eat it for dinner. Breakfast we just eat sometimes.” Deba’s family has been impacted by a series of events occurring both within her community as well as beyond Mali’s borders. “Last year the drought damaged our crops, and this year our millet was half destroyed by flooding, ” she laments. On top of this, food prices have risen exorbitantly because of global supply chain bottlenecks and the war in Ukraine, reaching to a 100% or greater increase from the previous year. To cope, her family have had to ration meals and ask members of the community to assist them. “It’s a serious problem to get money to buy food, ” says Deba. “I think there is no situation more difficult than this. You have to go to this person to beg for your lunch, and another person to beg for your dinner.” Young people in the midst of their crucial years of growth and development suffer the most when they don’t get enough food. “[Aliou] was about to start walking but he couldn’t because of the lack of food, ” Deba recalls. Because Aliou’s mother was not getting the food she needed, she too was experiencing malnutrition and couldn’t produce breastmilk, depriving Aliou of essential vitamins and nutrients. “He didn’t get enough breastm