The Council of Ministers of Mali proceeded, Wednesday, November 10, to the adoption of the draft texts relating to the ratification of a financing agreement signed on September 21 in Bamako with the International Development Association (IDA) relating to phase II of the regional project to support pastoralism in the Sahel. Through this agreement, IDA is providing funding of 24.8 million euros to the country.
“This funding is intended to support the efforts of the government of the Republic of Mali to promote the pastoral sector, improve the resilience of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in the targeted areas and promote the socio-economic development of the country” , underlines the press release of the Council of Ministers.
The sector faces several growing challenges. Since 2012, animals in the flood-prone region of the Inner Niger Delta are likely to die in the event of a flood, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA-Mali) notes in a report.
“Every year, NGOs working in the protection of the pastoralism sector recover thousands of animal carcasses that were too weak to move away from the lakes and flood plains of the delta region of Mali,” notes the organization.
Note that hundreds of pastors from the region of Mopti, in central Mali, are caught between the flood plains of the south and the Islamists and rebels who occupy the north of the country.