Page 134 - Empires of Medieval West Africa

E p i l o g u e

President Konaré stepped down after his two terms of office. In
May 2002, Amadou Toumani Touré was elected president. His political
campaign was based on a program of fighting corruption, supporting Some Mali Basics
peace, and development aimed at reducing poverty. Mali covers 478,819
Despite its good leadership, Mali is still one of the poorest coun- square miles, and is about
tries in the world. Much of the northern part of the country is in the twice the size of Texas.
Its population is about
Sahara Desert, where the salt mines of medieval Mali and Songhay are 12,667,000, of whom 90
still producing salt. Mali suffers from recurrent drought, the expansion percent are Muslim, 1
of the desert, and infestations of locusts (insects who eat all the crops). percent are Christian, and
Although 80 percent of the population lives by farming and fishing, 9 percent practice ances-
the government sometimes has to rely on international aid to make up for tral religions. French is the
food shortages. Mali’s mining industry exports small amounts of gold, official language, because
Mali was a French colony
marble, uranium, and phosphates. Deposits of bauxite, iron, manganese, until it achieved indepen-
tin, and diamonds have not yet been exploited because the country has dence. The main native
been concentrating its limited capital on developing gold mining. language is Bamana (with
Maninka, which is very
similar). Songhay, Fula,
cropS, MarkeTS, and food Dogon, Bozo, Minianka,
Senufo, Tamashaq (the
As cash crops (crops sold for export), farmers in Guinea produce palm Tuareg language), and
oil, coffee, rice, cassava, millet, sweet potatoes, bananas, and pineapples. many others are also
In Mali, major crops for export include rice, millet, sorghum, corn, sugar, spoken.
peanuts, and cotton. Both countries raise cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, In 2009, the adult
and guinea fowl, and in northern Mali the Tuareg raise camels. literacy rate was esti-
Mango trees grow virtually everywhere in southern Mali and mated at over 46 percent.
School is required for all
throughout Guinea. Depending on the season, local markets sell citrus children ages 7 to 16. The
fruit (oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes), mangoes, bananas, peanuts, life expectancy at birth
pineapples, avocados, tomatoes, plantains, corn, eggplants, lettuce, was estimated at about
okra, a variety of leafy greens, and other vegetables. 50 years. The per capita
Near the rivers and Guinea’s Atlantic coast, fresh fish is always income was $1,300,
available. Most markets sell dried fish, freshly butchered beef or mut- with 64 percent of the
population living below
ton (sheep), chickens, and eggs. There is rice and a variety of grains, the poverty line. The main
including millet, sorghum, and fonio, plus sweet potatoes, cassava, fruit agricultural products are
and vegetables, peanut butter, peppers, onions, garlic, salt, peanut or millet, sorghum, corn,
palm oil, and assorted spices. rice, sugar, cotton, pea-
In Mande culture since the days of the Mali Empire, special flavor- nuts, and livestock.
ings have included namugu (powdered leaves of the baobab tree), sii but-
ter made by pounding the seeds of the karité tree, dado made from dried
hibiscus blossoms or leaves, datu made by fermenting hibiscus seeds,
and seeds from the nèrè plant pounded into a paste that is fermented

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