Chapter 5 - Listening With Subsistence Farmers in Mali

Abstract

Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa with an estimated population of 13.5 million people. From the formally educated families in the capital city, Bamako, to isolated rural farming and fishing villages, our team has found a joy of living, a dedication to the family, focus on children plus a reverence for the Elders, and an appreciation for music, graphic art, and design. Beneath the surface, over the decades we also have found a concern at these levels for the prevalence of disease, both infectious and diet-related, for the calling into question of certain cultural practices related to food, and a growing interest in formal education for the children and youth, particularly the girls and young women. We see and hear the lingua franca remaining strong along with cultural pride, joy of family, and appreciation of diversity including intercultural friend relationships. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the richness in long-term relationships with a subsistence farming community and how this experience lays the groundwork for exploring and working together to solve complex health, food, and agricultural issues. This is one of the five nations in which we will explore the listening process in Part II of this book. Here in chapter 5, Listening With Subsistence Farmers in Mali, there will be three voices in addition to me, Florence Dunkel. Of these, the oldest relationship is with Hawa Coulibaly who we introduced in Chapter 2, Failures. Sanambele is a small farming village composed of smallholder farmers of the Bambara ethnicgroup. The village has no electricity, cars, or running water, and only a few motor bikes.Governance and social organization in this small village is complex. After a trusting relationship has been developed, we detail how nutritional biochemistry can be taken up and adopted when provided in a place-based, culture-based format for mothers with no formal education.