. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .
An article received CPNN from Bakrene Ag Sidimohamed
To work for peace in the Tessalit area in the North of Mali, we need to develop actions for the control and sharing of water resources.
I. Introduction
The Tessalit region located in the far north of Mali just on the Algerian border is characterized by large-scale livestock activity, 80% of the populations are involved in livestock breeding (breeding of camels, cows, goats and sheep).
Livestock in addition to being a source of nutrition thanks to milk, cheese, butter and meat, is also an income-generating activity through the marketing of animals.
When we talk about livestock we are necessarily talking about pastures and water sources.
From 2012 to 2024 (start of the new instability in northern Mali) the practice of livestock farming increased significantly due to the economic growth of the Tessalit area and the interest of communities in the raising of animals.
This growth has had a direct and significant impact on the daily use of water points in areas with extensive grazing and especially during periods of extreme heat; thus creating traffic jams of people and their herds at water points for almost 24 hours a day.
This is a problem everywhere, including at very few existing sources created by drilling wells thanks to development partners such as MINUSMA and international NGOs.
Because of the intense competition people often get carried away by their emotions and lose their reasoning, causing disagreements and misunderstandings.
It is generally observed that the owners of water sources and the indigenous communities of a grazing site are disturbed by the regular arrival of other communities in search of water to water their herds and for their own consumption; hence the origin of a large part of inter- and intra-community conflicts.
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These conflicts around water sources are regularly fueled by political and ideological oppositions and also external exploitation. Water being the main source of life in the greater SAHARA is regularly used by conflict actors as alibis to fuel tensions between communities and thus weaken the social fabric.
Rational management of water points is the best way to prevent and manage conflicts in the localities of northern Mali.
II. Challenges Related to Water Management
It is noted that several factors explain the insufficiency of water in the Tessalit area: we can speak of low rainfall and an often empty water table, abusive use of water in mining sites during the exploitation and artisanal refining of gold, great desertification linked to climate change and deforestation, the commercialization of water towards cities and above all the significant growth of herds.
Given these different natural and human phenomena, the following practices are needed for the rational and equitable management of water and above all maintaining peaceful coexistence within communities.
III. Recommendations
To restore and consolidate social cohesion around water points, certain actions constitute essential tools for the stability of the area.
° Establish and maintain management committees at public water sources
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° Ask traditional authorities (fraction leaders, imams) to regularly disseminate awareness-raising messages and human habits favorable to living together.
° Separate water points for domestic use from those for commercial use while instructing gold miners to produce their own sources on their work sites.
° Advocate with development partners for the construction of mini-dams and water reservoirs.
° Organise awareness sessions for economic operators and large breeders
to drill for water in large pasture environments
° Develop citizen management committees at water sources and raise awareness among nomadic populations for the sharing of water resources
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