Mali： Trees, microcredit and the environment 马里之殇：树荒、小额信贷与恶化的环境

British Council

位于馬里境内的卡伊小镇是世界上最热的小镇之一，近年来饱受沙漠化的危害。那么引起沙漠化的原因是什么？又该如何解决呢？

Before reading

1. Do you know about Mali？ Please surf the Internet and get as much information as you can.

2. What do you think the author will talk about according to the title？

Kayes， in Mali， is reputed to be one of the hottest towns in the world. The average daytime temperature is about 35 ℃， sometimes reaching up to 46 ℃ in April and May. With a population of more than 100，000， it is located on the Senegal River. Kayes and southwestern Mali are at the edge of the Sahara Desert. Many people who live there now remember times when there were many more animals and many more trees. Now the desert is taking over and action is needed， as we hear.

Why is the desert taking over in southwestern Mali？

There are many reasons， including global warming， but a very important factor is that there are fewer and fewer trees in the area.

Why are trees important to stop the desert from taking over？

Again， there are many reasons： the leaves and branches of trees stop the wind from blowing more sand into the area， while the roots of the trees hold soil together and keep the moisture. If there are no trees the soil turns into dust and blows away.

Why are there no trees？

People are the main reason. People cut down trees. In Mali many people cut down trees to burn them and sell as charcoal in the market. But now they have to go further and further away to find trees. Ten years ago women found wood a few metres from their homes. Today it can be a journey of days to reach the trees.

What can be done？

A lot can be done. People cut down trees because they are poor and need the money for food， not because they want to destroy the environment. To save the trees， there has to be less poverty. For example， an organisation called Aliniha has turned to women for their help in protecting trees.

Each woman in the programme plants three trees and looks after them. In exchange Aliniha helps the women by providing microcredit.

What is Aliniha and what is microcredit？

Aliniha is a not-for-profit organisation which works in three countries and is run by three social entrepreneurs： Alou Keita from Mali who specialises in microcredit， Ini Damien from Burkina Faso， specialising in building women's organisations， and Jean Goepp from Senegal， a specialist in the environment. The purpose of Aliniha is to fight poverty by helping women. For a woman to get help from Aliniha， she has to promise to save money and to help improve the environment （that's where tree-planting and other environmental activities come in）. Microcredit is the provision of small loans for people who don't have much money. They are short-term loans made to the women when they most need the money.

How does that work？

Each woman is given a microcredit facility， a savings account and three small trees which they must plant and look after. The women must go to training courses， such as learning to read and write or managing a small business， while learning about women's rights and the protection of the environment. The idea is to move to sustainable businesses. Alou Keita says that Aliniha has also been showing films around the country to raise public awareness of how humans are destroying the environment and how to stop this process.

Does it work？

So far more than 6，000 women have signed the Aliniha charter. That's 18，000 new trees and a lot of knowledge shared on preventing erosion. By itself， that won't stop the Sahara Desert， but as the word spreads， it's a very good start.

Learning Activities

Activity 1

Identify the missing words.

1. The  ______ stop the wind from blowing sand into the area.

2. The  ______ of the trees hold the soil together.

3. People cut down trees to burn them and make   ______   .

4. The soil turns into  ______  and blows away.

5. There are now    ______  trees in the area.

Activity 2

Are these statements true（T） or false（F）？

（）1. Kayes is in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

（）2. People in Mali now travel long distances to find trees for firewood.

（）3. Aliniha wants women to keep back the desert by planting trees.

（）4. 600 women have signed the Aliniha charter.

（）5. Each woman plants and cares for three trees and is given microcredit.

Over to you

Microfinance has been effective in many countries around the world to help poor people start small businesses. Do you know any examples in your country？ Discuss ways it can be used to help fight poverty.

Word search

Find these words from the article in the grid.

desertwarmingcharcoalloanserosionchartertreescredit