29 February 2008: With more than 11 million inhabitants and two-thirds of its land in the Sahel or the Sahara, Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world and is ranked 175 out of 177 countries on the Human Development Index. The country continues to be plagued by critical rates of under-nutrition. A 2006 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS 2006) reported that more than a third (34 percent) of children in Mali under the age of five years suffers from chronic malnutrition, 16 percent of whom suffer from chronic, severe malnutrition. Moreover, 32 percent of Malian children are underweight.
In response, CERF allocated $3.2 million through its first-round underfunded emergencies window to fight malnutrition, strengthen means of subsistence for vulnerable populations and provide emergency nutrition to children.