Meet the women and young people running Mali’s rooftop hatcheries and fish farms

“This work gives us great moral satisfaction, as we contribute to solving producers’ problems and supporting the most vulnerable. It’s more than just about money, it’s about service and positive impact on local communities.”

Written by Bryony Harris
Images: Mickael Franci
Cordaid
March 14, 2024

Excerpt:

In recent years, a combination of political upheaval, regional conflicts, mass displacement and climate change means that Malians are increasingly contending with food insecurity. In response to this, Cordaid’s Jege ni Jaba (JNJ) programme has a two-fold aim: improve food security throughout the state (without increasing pressure on the environment), and create economic opportunities within the value chains, particularly for women and youth.

Jege ni Jaba means ‘fish and onion’ in Bambara, an ethnolinguistic group from the upper Niger region of Mali. The West African country is home to more than 80 languages and 21.9 million people, the majority of whom are under the age of twenty-five.

We met some of the project leaders, experts, young people and women involved in Jege ni Jaba, particularly the aquaculture sector in and around Bamako. Here’s how their lives and communities have changed because of the project.

Boubacar Guindo, a 25-year-old from Mopti (a region some 600 km northeast of Mali’s capital, Bamako), is one of the young people who found employment in the fish value chain via Jege ni Jaba. In 2019, Boubacar and his family were forced to flee their village after a lethal armed attack. They left with nothing, not even food, and encountered many difficulties when they reached the nearby town of Bankass.

Read the complete article here.