Mother cooking a meal over an open fire in front of the family's home in Segou Region, Mali, West Africa. 2022 Mali drought and hunger crisis.
Image details
Contributor:
Jake Lyell / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
2PTYEFWFile size:
128.1 MB (4.6 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:
20 December 2022Location:
Ségou Region, Mali, West AfricaMore information:
This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage.
In 2021, Mamadou Sankaré (44), along with his wife and six children, was forced to flee his home near the northern town of Djené. With a large farm, plentiful livestock and a profitable business breeding and selling cattle, he led a prosperous life there. But when an armed Islamist insurgency took over the northern part of the country, Mamadou was kidnapped and held because he was an educated and influential man in his community. The Jihadist held him for several weeks, attempting to indoctrinate him so he would join their cause and use his influence to expand their reach. “I was well known and influential. They wanted to get me on their team, ” says Mamadou. Pretending he now sided with them, Mamadou was finally released under the condition that he use his influence to recruit many more fighters. He and his family, avoiding their coercion, went into hiding for two months, during which time the Islamists returned killing his best friend and some of his relatives. Mamadou knew he must leave the north, but at the time he owned more than 100 cows and over 70 goats. He began to drive his herds southwards on foot while his wife and family fled by car. After a long journey south, Mamadou and his family reunited and settled in Ségou Region. By the time they arrived, however, many animals had died, and he was forced to sell many more to buy food for the family. Fortunately, friends who lived in Ségou Region offered him a small plot of land, dug him a well and built a small mud house for them to stay in. Farming on land just a fraction of the size of their former property and faced with exorbitant food prices, his family has not been able to grow enough food to feed themselves properly. Today, they eat just one meal a day and have only nine goats remaining, which they keep in order to breed and sell. “We eat but we are not filled, ” says Mamadou. “My entire harvest this year amounted to just three bags of millet. You just have to keep going. Being well-