Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS) Mali Country Plan

The Government of Mali (GOM) and USAID have achieved many successes in nutrition, resilience, and agricultural growth through their aligned policy goals and investments. Between 2013 and 2018, stunting rates of children under five decreased from 38 percent to 27 percent and wasting rates decreased from 13 percent to 9 percent (USAID, 2021a). More than 680,000 Malians have access to annual rainfall forecasts (produced in partnership with USAID) to adapt their agricultural calendar to shifting weather patterns and enhance their resilience to climate change (USAID, 2019). Mali’s agricultural sector is growing at an annual rate of 4 percent (Collins et. al., 2022). Nevertheless, the Malian people still face many challenges, including droughts, persistent malnutrition, widespread poverty, socio-political instability, and a deteriorating security situation. Since 2020 the decreasing trend in wasting, stunting, and malnutrition rates have reversed and are now on the rise. USAID’s Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions (SMART) surveys show that Mali is no longer on track to achieve the objective of the World Health Assembly to reduce wasting to less than 5 percent by 2025.