Located in the heart of West Africa, Mali is a vast landlocked country in the Sahel region. The political and social situation has continued to improve during the last decade with peaceful democratic elections held since 1992. This stable situation has allowed the government to develop strong national programmes and policies such as the Programme for Social and Health Development, the ten-year Programme for Education and the Agricultural Orientation Law. In addition, Mali has significant development potential in agriculture, forestry, fishery and pastoralist activities concentrated mainly along the shores of the Niger River.
Despite these efforts and opportunities, Mali still faces significant challenges in key development sectors and is ranked 160th out of 169 countries in the 2010 UNDP Human Development Index (HDI). About 69 percent of the population lives below the national poverty line, and more than one fifth of school-aged children do not attend school, three quarters of whom are girls.
More than 80 percent of the rural population is dependent on subsistence farming and livestock herding. Limited arable land, unpredictable weather, natural disasters
(including drought, locust infestations and floods), environmental degradation and fluctuating commodity prices have led to numerous food security and health challenges for these populations. In fact, every fifth household is moderately food insecure and close to 10 percent are severely food insecure, according to the March 2009 WFP Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis (CFSVA).
Children are the most affected by these challenges. The prevalence of Global Acute Malnutrition among children under 5 was reported as 15 percent according to the last Demographic and Health Survey in Mali. A Food Security Analysis conducted following drought in the north revealed that the percentage of pastoralists' households unable to afford more than two meals per day increased form 16 percent in a normal year to 58 percent in January 2010. In addition to these prevailing vulnerability features, Mali has an HIV prevalence of 1.5 percent, resulting in an estimated 100,000 adults and children living with HIV and 44,000 left orphaned due to AIDS, according to UNAIDS figures in 2008.
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