BOSTON.COM
The crises in and around Mali are shaped by an intersection of trends: food insecurity and desertification linked to climate change; an incomplete transition to democracy and a growing population of young people with poor employment prospects. With its government debilitated by a coup, the Malian political system is unable to maintain its reach into the north where militant, foreign-sponsored radical Islamist are in control. In addition, the region is in the grip of a major food crisis. Mali matters for two reasons. First, the country is not the isolated place of myth that the Timbuktu legend implies. Its political crisis is a threat to stability in the region. Second, instability combined with the food crisis have together had acute humanitarian consequences. Aid agencies are struggling to meet basic needs. Mali’s industries of gold and cotton are doing comparatively well, mainly because they’re located in the south where things are relatively calm. Mali needs to fund its transition back to civilian rule through elections and retake the northern desert. Stability in Mali, as the third biggest producer in Africa, is important for the global gold market; the gold miners operating in the country; and to a lesser extent, the cotton market. — Paula Nelson
People walk past the Grand Mosque of Djenne, a UNESCO World-Heritage listed site, in Djenne, Sept. 1, 2012. Nearly 10,000 annual tourists visited Djenne, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed town, in previous years. Since Mali’s coup d’etat in late March, after which Islamist rebels took control of the country’s northern two-thirds, less than 20 tourists have come to Djenne, according to the local tourism board. (Joe Penney/Reuters)
A man in traditional dress walks past a woman cooking on market day in Djenne, Sept. 2, 2012. (Joe Penney/Reuters)
Signs for hotels and tourist attractions line the road in Djenne, Sept. 1, 2012. Nearly 10,000 annual tourists visited Djenne, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed town, in previous years. Since Mali’s coup d’etat in late March less than 20 tourists have come to Djenne, according to the local tourism board. (Joe Penney/Reuters
A traditional Moorish-style window is seen at an Islamic institute in Djenne, Sept. 1, 2012. (Joe Penney/Reuters)
An Islamic teacher instructs students in Quranic verses in Djenne, Sept. 1, 2012. (Joe Penney/Reuters)
Aboubakar Yaro, head of conservation at the Djenne Library of Manuscipts, holds an Islamic manuscript from the 15th century in Djenne, Sept. 1, 2012. (Joe Penney/Reuters)
A woman walks by the Grand Mosque of Djenne, on market day in Djenne, Sept. 2, 2012. (Joe Penney/Reuters)
Cotton farmer Karim Traore, 29, surveys his cotton field outside Koutiala, Aug. 30, 2012. Nearly 10,000 annual tourists visited Djenne, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed town, in previous years. Since Mali’s coup d’etat in late March less than 20 tourists have come to Djenne, according to the local tourism board. (Joe Penney/Reuters)
A worker fabricates a plastic bag designed to hold cotton at the Badenya Company factory in Koutiala, Aug. 31, 2012. (Joe Penney/Reuters)
An artisanal gold miner tosses a bucket of mudwater to clear the way for work on a small-scale gold mine in Kalana, Aug. 26, 2012. Mali is the third biggest producer of gold in Africa. (Joe Penney/Reuters)
Amadou Dabo, a 46-year-old gold buyer, weighs gold he will buy from an artisanal miner in Kalana, Aug. 25, 2012. (Joe Penney/Reuters)
Traditional mud-brick walls are seen during sunset in Djenne, Sept. 2, 2012. (Joe Penney/Reuters)
Veiled female students attend a lesson in the northeastern Malian city of Gao, September 5, 2012. Mali Islamic militant group the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA), who exert control over Gao, have allowed classes for female students to resume but order that women wear veils and be separated from male students. (Adama Diarra/Reuters)
méridianes géo 