Coronavirus: from producers to consumers, a Ramadan that promises to be complicated in Mali

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Ramadan is expected to start on Friday. For Muslims around the world, the month of fasting will be somewhat disrupted this year by the coronavirus. In Mali, devices to curb the spread of the virus have led to a significant increase in prices. While in Bamako they are currently rather stable, in the north of the country, this period of Ramadan promises to be more complicated than usual.

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There is the night curfew. But what will disturb Ramadan the most in northern Mali is the closing of the borders. Freight trucks can still pass, but trade has slowed and prices have surged, especially in areas dependent on imports - legal or illegal - from Algeria or Mauritania.

This is the case of Gao and Kidal, where Mohamed Ag Jidou coordinates the NGO Assaddec: "  In Kidal, there is an increase in prices on milk, sugar, cereals," he explains. We still don't have eggs. Kidal is not a big city, there is no stock. Of course there are missing products. I see that there are fewer trucks arriving at the border than before the illness.  "

When a state of health emergency was declared in late March, many Malians rushed to the goods. Some also accuse traders of having artificially inflated their prices, which had more than doubled for certain products. Today, these prices have come down, but very unevenly depending on the zones and the commodities.

► Also listen: How farmers in northern and southern Mali approach Ramadan in times of Covid-19

In Timbuktu, Baba Moulaye, of the Malian consumer association, deplores this rise in prices, but he also sees the Lent period as a factor of hope in the fight against the coronavirus.

"  Ramadan may provide the solution because people will not move around much, " he said. It will still help to overcome the danger. When you do Lent, under 40 degrees, you are tired. At 6 p.m. already, you no longer have the strength to go somewhere. So you stay at home, family is better. "

Malian authorities are asking to avoid rallies, but the mosques will remain open.

► Read also: Coronavirus: Mali continues to prepare (Interview)

Good prospects in the south of the country

If in the North and in the Center pastoralists suffer from the closure of borders and insecurity which prevent cross-border buyers from coming, in the South, on the contrary, this Ramadan promises to be rather good, as Sanoussi Bouya explains. Sylla, dairy producer and president of the Chamber of Agriculture of the district of Bamako.

With the borders closed, this allows us to be able to sell Malian products.

Sanoussi Bouya Sylla, milk producer

David Baché

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