Mali’s communities navigate jnim blockades: resilience amidst famine and fear

An in-depth examination reveals that strategic blockades have become a primary weapon for the Jnim group in Mali. This armed faction is less focused on direct territorial conquest and more on a strategy of economic and social strangulation. By systematically closing vital transportation routes, denying local populations access to their agricultural fields, and paralyzing essential markets, the Jnim aims to exert control through isolation and deprivation.

In various localities such as Marébougou, Saye, and Kori-Maoundé, residents are enduring immense hardship as they strive to survive these imposed restrictions. Their daily lives are a complex blend of quiet resistance, pragmatic adaptation to the harsh new realities, and entering into difficult, often coerced, arrangements with the group. These communities demonstrate remarkable resilience as they navigate the constant threats of famine, fear, and the profound uncertainty that defines their existence under blockade.