No African should be poor/hungry or lacking the basic necessities in this life. Not with blessings God has bestowed upon us from the land to the resources we produce. Africa and Africans have been in a state of terror and emergency for past few centuries. Agriculture has been the back bone of African civilization, Mali to be exact. From the market place to the farms, women are front and center in the agriculture domain. Climate change has impacted agriculture in Mali but I want to know why Mali is importing goods that we can actually grow?
Read more on the effect of climate change on agriculture here https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/mali/vulnerability#:~:text=Climatic%20changes%20are%20already%20a,over%20the%20last%2050%20years.
Look at the difference in goods imported between France and Mali https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-country/fra/partner/mli
France-Mali In 2022, France exported $367 M to Mali. the main products that France exported to Mali are Packaged medicaments $84.5M, Wheat $60.2M and Malt extract $19.1M. The rate at which these goods are exported to Mali from France has increased at an annualized rate of 2.86%, from $171M in 1995 to $367M in 2022. Why are the "goods" being exported there? Mali grows barley which primarily produces cereal and cotton? Mali is known for its production in cotton. Again, why are we importing malt extract when we have the primary resources to make our own? Anyone who has every been to Mali or lived there knows that eating fourou fourou with sugar or powdered milk (fried dough made from wheat or millet flour) every afternoon is a staple. It is one of the things I looked forward to as a kid after school. Mali grows wheat, primarily produced in the Tomboctou region in the Goundam and Dire circles. Mali produced 37,000 tonnes of wheat in 2020. One ton is 2204.62 lbs. You do the math on how much it is being sold for and how much Mali should be making from it based on its weight alone.
Mali's agricultural production is mostly dominated by cotton and grains, with around four-fifths of the working population involved in subsistence agriculture. other main subsistence crops include millet, rice corn, yams and cassava. Cotton, peanuts, sugarcane, tobacco and tea are also grown for market and are commercial crops. Who are at the forefront of these markets? Women. Women are always at the forefront.
I will not even get into the topic of gold. That brings out an emotion in me that we will have to explore another time.
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