For decades, the villages of Kanabougou and Kodougou in the Kati Circle, western Mali, worked together as a single community.

Shared festivals, naming ceremonies, burials and weddings and would regularly bring people together from both villages. The villages worked together to sell locally grown produce and even created a single administrative structure to support both villages – a move consolidated by the establishment of a shared village chief.

But disputes over governance – in particular, disagreements over the selection of a new village chief – saw these relationships break down. Where everything was once shared, suddenly the 2 villages were separate.

Marriages between individuals from both villages were no longer socially acceptable and became defined by ethnicity.

Collective farming broke down and the rice harvest, a major source of income in the region, was now conducted separately.

For 30 years the villages stayed isolated and apart, until an Islamic Relief project brought them back together again.

The catalyst

Islamic Relief launched the Supporting Education, Livelihoods and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in the Circle of Kati project in November 2022.

As part of this project, a microdam was built in Kati Circle in order to improve irrigation and enhance food security in the region. While the project was initially launched with the purpose to benefit nearly 5,000 people in the region, additional positives developed over time.

It had been decades since Kanabougou and Kodougouhad worked together on anything, but the construction of the microdam required input from both communities. The Microdam Management Committee, for example, included representatives from all ethnicities and both villages.

The engagement of faith and community leaders and local decision-makers from both villages and all ethnic groups further helped to ensure that the project was responding to any needs that popped up over time.  

This engagement also encouraged community members to come together at inclusive meetings, where government representatives and Islamic Relief staff were also present.

Reestablishing old relationships

Due to the collaborative elements needed to support the construction of the microdam, cross-community events started happening again. Festivals and even weddings began to resume.

The villages once again began to support each other and cooperating on economic projects, with the resumption of collective community farming, which includes the important rice harvest.

Community administration and shared governance were repaired and strengthened, with the 2 communities now united, and the appointment of a new village chief for the first time in 3 decades.

“My sincere thanks go to Islamic Relief Mali and the donors for providing us with such a high-quality microdam which will improve food security in the long run.” Says Mori Konate, President of the Kodougou Microdam Management Committee.

“The biggest tribute to be paid [is to the] inhabitants – living in togetherness, union and harmony after 30 years of brawl, rivalry, enmity, egocentrism and conflict.”

Bringing the communities of Kanabougou and Kodougou together again after 30 years was an unexpected but welcome bonus to Islamic Relief’s work in Mali.

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