Mali
Women from the community in Sana, Mali, prepare meals for the primary school's canteen three days a week. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Whelan
Mali is a landlocked West African nation whose large territory is 60 percent desert. Mali faces food shortages and is vulnerable to environmental shocks like flooding and desertification. Despite its rich history and culture, Mali ranks near the bottom of the United Nations Human Development Index: life expectancy is 53 years and 81 percent of children under the age of 5 are anemic.
Despite economic growth in Mali's key exports—gold, cotton and livestock—public services remain inadequate. Limited human and natural resources, environmental degradation and weak institutional capacity continue to thwart economic growth.
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Stats
| Population: | 14,159,904 (July 2011 est.) |
| Size: | 478,841 sq. mi.; slightly less than twice the size of Texas |
| People Served: | 704,518 (2011 est.) |
History
Catholic Relief Services first began working in Mali in 1999, offering our expertise to assist the World Food Programme with school feeding activities. Between 1999 and 2006, CRS implemented projects from neighboring Burkina Faso. A CRS country office was opened in Mali in 2006 to expand programming and better meet the needs of people in Mali, particularly in the area of food security. CRS Mali's programming grew to incorporate projects in agro-enterprise, microfinance and HIV.
CRS Mali's national office is based in the country's capital of Bamako, with a sub-office in Mopti.
