Første gang i Mali 23 timer og 50 minutter til næste måltid November 2006. Kayes, Mali, tæt ved grænsen til Senegal. WFP, World Food Programme står igen på programmet men i en anden sammenhæng end for tre år siden i Elfenbenskysten. I Danmark har jeg ladet batterier op oven på krigsoplevelsen og min manglende evne til at præstere under stressede omstændigheder. ”Afrika” rumsterer altid i baghovedet, og støjen er taget til, efter at Claudine har fået job hos Børnefonden, hvor hun flyver frem og tilbage fra København til fondens fem ”samarbejdslande” i Vestafrika . Fra de ture kommer hun hjem og fortæller begejstret om arbejdet i felten, som på ingen måde er det samme som at være på safari. Det skal jeg også prøve. Jeg søger ”Danidas oplysningsbevilling” og får et journalistisk rejselegat for at afdække den ”kroniske sult”, som florerer i Kayes-regionen i det vestlige Mali, et fænomen som jeg har læste om et eller andet sted. Nødhjælpsorganisationer skelner den vedvarende sult fra den pludseligt opståede ved, at den kun kan afhjælpes med permanent hjælp udefra, altså kontinuerlig leverance af mad. Sulten i Kayes er ikke som i Elfenbenskysten akut, en følge af uroligheder, der gør det umuligt for mennesker at skaffe sig mad. I Kayes er det kroniske problem, at regnen er for sparsom og jorden for tør og pauver. Oveni har det ikke regnet i de sidste to års regntider, samtidig med at regionen er blevet invaderet af millioner af græshopper, der har ædt de sidste spiselige rester på jorden. Jeg møder igen WFP-medarbejdere, der imponerer med deres engagement . Issa Diakaté er en af dem. Han er chef for WFPs feltkontor i Kayes, som jeg var det engang i Bouaké i nabolandet. Men til forskel fra mig er han ikke på oplevelsestur i ”Afrika”. Han er ”på”, hele tiden. At hjælpe sultne er hans daglige arbejde og har været det i mange år. Issa smiler sjældent og svarer i knappe, afmålte sætninger og virker så koncentreret, at det strejfer anspændelse, som om han kontrollerer en indre stress for at skal holde styr på de logistiske detaljer i sin del af fødevareprogrammet i Mali, der skal hjælpe omkring fire millioner fejl- eller underernærede mennesker. Her søndag eftermiddag har han checket WFP-lastbiler, der er kommet fra Lomé i Togo, næsten 3.000 kilometer borte. Er der det korrekte antal sække med korn, bælgfrugter, madolie, salt, sukker og en særlig nærende blanding af majs og soja, ”Corn-Soja Blend” eller ”CSB”. Mens han krydser af på en liste, siger han: “At arbejde for WFP er syv dage om ugen. Folk skal jo have noget at spise, hver dag”. Som i Elfenbenskysten er WFP-programmet i Kayes underfinansieret. Issa vrisser lidt, da vi snakker om den side af sagen. Han siger, at sulten i Kayes kunne afvikles, hvis man satte ind med de nødvendige landbrugsmetoder som overrisling og vanding, ja hvis der blev sparket gang i udvikling af regionen på alle felter: vandforsyning, uddannelse, infrastruktur. Men det ville kræve en koordineret indsats og meget større beløb, end det koster at holde folk i live med fødevarehjælp. Det er altså billigere at bespise mennesker i det uendelige fremfor at udvikle regionen en gang for alle. For at underbygge argumentet fortæller han, at de eneste humanitære organisationer, der opererer i Kayes-regionen, er WFP, UNICEF og en lille tysk NGO, der arbejder med at forbedre landsbrugsmetoder i et par landsbyer. Organisationer som danske Danida, svenske SIDA eller amerikanske USAid har kontorer i hovedstaden Bamako, 620 kilometer fra Kayes, og projekter i mere frugtbare egne af Mali, men ingenting i Kayes. Forklaringen er enkel, siger Issa. Kayes ligger for langt fra Bamako, klimaet er for barskt, og det er besværligt at komme herud ad de dårlige veje. Issa introducerer mig til Ismail Traoré, som er WFP-kontrollør. Han vil tage mig ud til nogle skoler, så jeg kan se, hvordan bespisning af eleverne foregår. Han kommer fra Sikasso i den sydlige del af Mali, landets grønne og frodige spisekammer, og fortæller, at han fik et chok, da han kom til Kayes for tre år siden: “Jeg troede ikke, at der fandtes så tørt et landskab i Mali og så megen elendighed blandt mennesker”. Vi kører igennem det knastørre landskab og standser ved en skole i Sambacire Sambala, en lille flække 60 kilometer fra Kayes by. Ismail og fem kontrollør-kolleger dækker 48 skoler. De fjerneste ligger 100 kilometer fra Kayes By. Ismail fortæller om skolen, at den har seks klasser og 700 elever, altså over 100 børn per klasse. Tidligere var her 300 elever, men da det rygtedes, at WFP var begyndt at levere fødevarer, steg elevtallet. Det er derfor ikke er lykkedes at leve op til en målsætning om to måltider hver dag. Der mangler finansiering. WFP kræver, at skolerne skal oprette forældrekomitéer til at stå for madlavning, og det falder altid i kvindernes lod. Derfor står en gruppe kvinder under et halvtag og rører i store jerngryder over åbne ildsteder. Lidt i klokken tolv giver de signal til, at det er spisetid, og så stormer

First time in Mali 23 hours and 50 minutes for the next meal November 2006. Kayes, Mali, close to the border with Senegal. WFP, World Food Program is again on the program but in a different context than three years ago in Ivory Coast. In Denmark, I have recharged batteries on top of the war experience and my inability to perform under stressful circumstances. "Africa" ​​is always rumbling in the back of my mind, and the noise has increased after Claudine got a job at the Children's Foundation, where she flies back and forth from Copenhagen to the foundation's five "partner countries" in West Africa. From those trips she comes home and enthusiastically tells about the work in the field, which is in no way the same as being on safari. I have to try that too. I am applying for "Danida's Information Grant" and receive a journalistic travel grant to uncover the "chronic hunger" that abounds in the Kayes region of western Mali, a phenomenon I have read about somewhere. Aid organizations distinguish the persistent hunger from the sudden onset by the fact that it can only be remedied with permanent help from outside, ie continuous delivery of food.The hunger in Kayes is not, as in Ivory Coast, acute, a result of unrest that makes it impossible for people to get food. In Kayes, the chronic problem is that the rain is too sparse and the soil too dry and peacock. On top of that, it has not rained during the last two rainy seasons, while the region has been invaded by millions of grasshoppers that have eaten the last edible remnants on earth. I meet again WFP employees who impress with their commitment. Issa Diakaté is one of them. He is the head of WFP's field office in Kayes, as I was once in Bouaké in the neighboring country. But unlike me, he is not on an adventure trip in "Africa". He is "on" all the time. Helping the hungry is his daily work and has been for many years. Issa rarely smiles and responds in concise, measured sentences and seems so concentrated that it strains tension, as if controlling an inner stress to keep track of the logistical details of his part of the food program in Mali, which is to help around four million malnourished or malnourished people. This Sunday afternoon, he has checked WFP trucks that have come from Lomé in Togo, almost 3,000 kilometers away.Is there the correct number of sacks of grains, legumes, cooking oil, salt, sugar and a particularly nutritious mixture of corn and soy, "Corn-Soy Blend" or "CSB". While ticking off a list, he says: “Working for WFP is seven days a week. People must have something to eat, every day ”. As in Côte d'Ivoire, the WFP program in Kayes is underfunded. Issa squirms a bit as we talk about that side of the case. He says that the hunger in Kayes could be eliminated if the necessary agricultural methods such as irrigation and irrigation were used, even if the development of the region was kicked off in all fields: water supply, education, infrastructure. But it would require a coordinated effort and much larger amounts than it costs to keep people alive with food aid. So it is cheaper to feed people indefinitely than to develop the region once and for all. To substantiate the argument, he says the only humanitarian organizations operating in the Kayes region are WFP, UNICEF and a small German NGO working to improve farming practices in a few villages. Organizations such as Danish Danida, Swedish SIDA or American USAid have offices in the capital Bamako, 620 kilometers from Kayes, and projects in more fertile areas of Mali, but nothing in Kayes.The explanation is simple, Issa says. Kayes is too far from Bamako, the climate is too harsh and it is difficult to get out here on the bad roads. Issa introduces me to Ismail Traoré, who is a WFP controller. He wants to take me out to some schools so I can see how the students' meals are going. Coming from Sikasso in the south of Mali, the country's green and lush pantry, he says he was shocked when he came to Kayes three years ago: “I did not think there was such a dry landscape in Mali and so much misery among men ”. We drive through the arid landscape and stop at a school in Sambacire Sambala, a small spot 60 kilometers from Kayes town. Ismail and five inspector colleagues cover 48 schools. The farthest ones are 100 kilometers from Kayes Town. Ismail says about the school that it has six classes and 700 students, ie over 100 children per class. Previously, there were 300 students here, but when it was rumored that WFP had started supplying food, the number of students increased. That is why it has not succeeded in living up to a goal of two meals every day. There is a lack of funding. WFP requires schools to set up parent committees to be in charge of cooking, and that always falls into the lot of women.Therefore, a group of women stand under a canopy and stir in large iron pots over open fireplaces. A little after twelve o'clock they signal that it is mealtime, and then storms