Famine Spreads in Central Mali Amid Ongoing Islamist Violence

(Bloomberg) -- At least 10 people died of hunger last week in food-starved central Mali, where dozens of villages are blocked off from the outside world because Islamist militants have planted landmines near major roads.

The presence of Islamist militant groups and militias in Mali’s center is preventing farmers from growing crops, and cattle herders have moved elsewhere because of theft and the inaccessibility of grazing land. That’s led to severe malnutrition, with an estimated 550,000 people in urgent need of food aid, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said July 25.

Mali’s government said Friday it’s trying to find a way to send trucks with cereals to the central city of Sevare, so that villages in the region can be supplied with food. That includes Mondoro, where at least 10 people died of starvation last week, according to the mayor, who asked his name be withheld for fear of reprisals. Mondoro is close to the border with Burkina Faso.

A recent surge of violence in central Mali has forced more than 147,000 people to flee their homes, the highest number in five years, according to the UN.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bokar Sangare in Bamako at bsangare1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Pauline Bax, John Bowker

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