salt of the earth

Timbuktu
Salt traders in Kourioume, Mali

There is a true story from Timbuktu about an old man who spent his life guiding camel trains, laden with salt, across hundreds of miles of desert. As he got older he began to lose his eyesight. Although he grew blind, he carried on doing his job. The young men with him on the journeys used to test him, and ask him where they were. Stopping, he would pick up a handful of sand, and sniff it: he always knew where they were from the sand’s smell.

The salt trade is a way of life in Timbuktu.

"The salt trade remains very important for all of us in Timbuktu. I would say about a third of the population of Timbuktu depends on it. The salt is carried on camels from Taoudenni [in the far north of Mali] to Timbuktu, a journey of about 700 miles. In a salt train, each camel carries four slabs of salt, each weighing about 25 kilos. Each piece would fetch about 5000 CFAs in Timbuktu, and 5,500 CFAs in Mopti, depending on the quality. Before leaving, each trader marks each slab of salt with his family symbol."

Salt trader, Timbuktu

a salt trader

But where does the salt come from?

"To get to the salt you have first to dig to remove the soil and once about half a metre of soil has been removed you might reach the first layer of salt. This is not very good quality because there are lots of stones in it, but it's still useable. Then, if you dig down about two metres, you reach the second quality salt which is almost as good as the best quality but it still contains a bit of sand. Then, after another two metres you begin to reach the best quality salt. The salt is deposited in layers and the layers can extend for 5-10 metres and they are up to 10 centimetres thick. We remove the two layers together and employ other people to split the pieces to separate the first and second quality layers, and then to cut the slabs to the right size."
Sidy Ahmed Ould Faly, salt trader

 

Photos for Oxfam GB by Rhodri Jones

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