Drought in the 1970s and 1980s caused terrible suffering in Mali. Many people have had to change the way they live so they can survive with less rain. Some nomadic cattle-herders, called pastoralists (people who travel with animals from one grazing land to another), have had to give up their big herds, because there isn’t enough water or food for them anymore. Nowadays they grow crops instead.

"After the cattle died in 1973 we had about 20 sheep and goats which survived that drought. These were the only animals left. Between 1973 and 1988, when we settled, life was very, very hard. With only 20 animals it was not easy to survive. I had finished at the village school and had to go on to the second part of my primary education in the town. So I needed some money for school fees at the beginning of every school year and it was very, very hard for my father to find that money. When my father came to Intilit in 1988 he was one of the first pastoralists in the area to begin cultivating, at a place not far from Intilit called Akarawat. That first year he had a good harvest and he said to himself 'I can cultivate a field near where I live, and grow enough food to feed my family. Why should I travel hundreds of kilometres every year to look for grass and water for my animals when they can still die so easily. It's better to settle here and cultivate.' So in the end it wasn't painful for him to take the decision to settle."