Since January 2022, Mali has been enduring a severe economic blockade imposed by neighboring states. The country is also suffering from domestic conflicts as well as ongoing drought. This has collectively led to a rapid unprecedented rise in prices, especially of basic food supplies )such as millet, corn, rice, oil, sugar, etc.), low and interrupted supply of essential foodstuffs like oil and sugar, in addition to people’s limited purchasing ability of the simplest life necessities. Hundreds of thousands of people fled conflict zones to more secure areas in the outskirts of the northern and southern major cities. According to a government report early this year, there are approximately 163,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Mopti alone.
Direct Aid has recently launched an emergency relief campaign to provide essential food supplies like oil, sugar, dry grains, milk, and other non-food needs to help displaced people maintain an adequate level of food security and avoid further worsening of the current crisis. The campaign will be executed in successive phases given the increasing number of displaced people most of whom are extremely poor.