Two markets located in Bamako, Mali, West Africa specialize in the commodification of wildlife, and in so doing contest western-centric notions of globalization. Founded in traditional medicine, the Marabagaw Yoro sells wildlife to serve the needs of the local community, while the Artisana, a state sponsored institution, manufactures fashion accoutrements from wildlife and is oriented towards meeting the demands of tourists. Actors in both markets effectively curb the impact of national and international forces and demonstrate the necessity of putting local-global relations at the heart of transnational studies. Malians are not weak and reactive, but potent and proactive. They become so by engaging in networks that move out from the two markets and that intersect to a degree. Through these networks, local actors negotiate and/or manipulate national and international forces for personal benefit for example, using wildlife for profit, despite national and international sanctions. As such, these markets are sites of articulation, where local resource users engage the world at large and actively negotiate a myriad of values as well as mediate political and economic pressures. Investigating these networks helps us understand the actual, empirical complexities of globalization while allowing for the agency of local actors. Supplemental File: Wild Species of the APT and their Conservation Status This file is an Excel spreadsheet of all wild species recorded in association with the Animal Parts Trade (APT) of Mali. It includes the following classes of vertebrates: Pisces, Aves, Reptilia, and Mammalia, as well as provides their conservation status and additional details.

In the West African country of Mali, fourteen languages are recognized by the constitution as official. Of these, one is French, the language of the former colonial power, and the other thirteen are indigenous African languages. These languages have traditionally been used for oral communication and storytelling, but as the technology of writing has been introduced, the languages have been codified and used by some writers in creative writing. This thesis explores the reasons writers in this plurilingual environment select the language in which they write. It provides a portrait of how writers perceive their role in the traditionally oral culture of Mali. Through an examination of connected institutions such as education and development, my work exposes the different forces that shape the choices made by these writers.

This study focuses on women vendors' perspectives on plastic bag consumption in markets in Mali. It also investigates how women across the urban and rural divide are affected by plastic bag pollution and to what extent women in Mali are included in policy formulation addressing plastic bag issues. I interviewed thirty women vendors in three research sites: Bougouni, Koulikoro and Bamako. In addition, I interviewed five Mali Officials including the Prime Minister and the Minister of Environment. Plastic bags continue to be used widely in all African countries, including Mali. This has created increased environmental pollution as there is no recycling due to the lack of appropriate technology or political will. Reducing the use of plastic bags, and thus pollution, requires social and economic change that may be difficult to implement without involving one of the largest consumers of plastic bags, women, specifically those selling at the market.

This dissertation takes an ethnographic perspective on competing global discourses and contested nationalisms in a postcolonial, multicultural nation. Using the Festival au Desert, in Mali, West Africa as a case study, I investigate the complexities of using cultural productions and tourism to achieve political, economic, and social goals. I critically assess several projects of Tuareg Intangible Cultural Heritage preservation to show the contested nature of collective identities. Neoliberal development in the Global South necessitates niche markets such as tourism centered on culture; however these markets are inherently unstable due to historic and contemporary global economic practices. The Festival au Desert was opened to the world just a few years after an armed rebellion between Tuareg separatists and the state of Mali was suppressed. On the first full moon of 2001, the Festival brought Malian musicians and citizens together in celebration. It became a symbol of peace and reconciliation between formally opposed groups, most notably southern sedentary populations and northern nomadic groups, such as the Tuareg. It also became an important factor in income generation in Mali, and it was a space where international tourists and their Tuareg hosts came into contact and shared dialogue. Tuareg hoped that through the Festival the world could know who they were outside of the rebellion. But in 2012, a renewed rebellion was staged and subsequently co-opted by supporters of Al-Qaeda who instituted Shari'a law in Timbuktu sending the Festival into exile, and Mali's growing tourist economy came to a devastating halt. The Festival provides a rich case study of the benefits and perils of tourism in multicultural states and in wider globalizing frames. It highlights the contradictions in using tourism as a development strategy, as prescribed by international institutions such as the United Nations World Tourism Organization, as it is a fragile enterprise subject to the whims of the market, environment, and global and local politics. However, the research also shows the importance of the Festival for Tuareg identity and how it provided a space for nomads to continue a tradition of gathering after seasonal migrations to negotiate marriages, discuss politics, and celebrate together.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:05:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo4328_1.pdf: 2606165 bytes, checksum: fef88f999d59657256197cb4add30c8c (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Esta dissertação situa-se na área de Etnologia Indígena, especificamente em Etnociência e tem como tema Etnomatemática dos Taliáseri: medidas de tempo e sistema numérico. É resultante de uma pesquisa etnográfica entre os Taliáseri, preponderantemente do clã Mali Makaliapi, que habitam na região do Médio Rio Uaupés, afluente do Rio Negro, na área indígena do Alto Rio Negro, conhecida na literatura antropológica como Noroeste amazônico. O trabalho justifica-se pela pouca quantidade de escritos sobre os Taliáseri e que pode servir como documento do grupo pesquisado, com conseqüente ampliação de estudos das sociedades indígenas no Brasil; e pela possível contribuição à expansão dos conhecimentos etnomatemáticos dos povos indígenas. A intenção é a de estudar e compreender os Taliáseri através de suas manifestações de saberes matemáticos que podem vir à tona através deste tipo de abordagem. O foco recai na mensuração da passagem do tempo que serve para organizar as atividades econômicas como agricultura e pesca; além do sistema numérico utilizado especificamente na medição do tempo e nas atividades de subsistência. Este trabalho baseia-se no pressuposto de que cada povo, inclusive os indígenas, possui sistema próprio de perceber, organizar e classificar sua realidade ambiental e cultural, em sendo assim, vem adotando ao longo de séculos sistemas de produção, estabelecendo sistemas sociais, criando sistemas de medidas do tempo e espaços específicos ao contexto vivido. Em outras palavras, eles criam os seus próprios conhecimentos aos quais chamamos de etnoconhecimentos ou etnociências. Diante disto, a dissertação foi dividida em três partes. Na primeira parte são conceituados alguns termos utilizados no trabalho seqüenciado pela contextualização histórica e geográfica dos Taliáseri. Em seguida a meta é evidenciar as unidades utilizadas pelos Taliáseri para medir a passagem de tempo e como organizam as atividades de agricultura e pesca. Por último é apresentada uma análise do sistema numérico utilizado pelos Taliáseri. A pesquisa realizada possibilitou explorar os saberes matemáticos dos Taliáseri e evidenciou que eles possuem suas próprias maneiras de mensurar o tempo para organizar suas atividades cotidianas, com destaque na agricultura como preparo, plantio e coleta nas roças; e na pesca como técnicas utilizadas para capturar peixe em diferentes épocas do rio

Entre 1992 et 2002, le président Alpha Oumar Konaré propulse un projet de monumentalisation de l’espace urbain de Bamako. Au lendemain du coup d’État qui met fin à la dictature de Moussa Traoré, ce projet apparait comme un levier afin de promouvoir une nouvelle identité nationale axée sur la démocratisation. À travers l’instauration de lieux de mémoire dans l’espace urbain de la capitale, ce projet invoque des événements, des personnages et des référents culturels du passé glorieux de la nation pour en faire les piliers de la nouvelle démocratie naissante. Le Mémorial Modibo Keita est un élément central de cette politique. En effet, le mémorial permet d’abord la réhabilitation du « père de la nation », bafoué par la dictature, puis, il met de l’avant, le souvenir d’un pionnier dans la mise en œuvre de la construction de l’identité nationale malienne. La construction de monuments en générale et celle du Mémorial Modibo Keita en particulier permet de tester les libertés démocratiques acquises puisqu’ils vont faire l’objet d’un grand débat dans l’espace public de Bamako. Ce qui ressort en filigrane de la construction du complexe mémoriel, c’est un conflit sur les représentations et sur les sens à donner à l’héritage culturel de Keita; et ultimement sur la pratique de la démocratie. Dans cet espace nouvellement démocratisé, les journaux de la capitale font état des débats qui se déroulent sur la place publique et qui participent par le fait même activement à la construction d’un nouveau Mali démocratique.

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of financial problems on the productivity of the employees of the Department of Social Services, Population and Development, Ermelo District, as a way or method of helping troubled employees to identify causes of their financial problems and how the problems impact on their productivity. A quantitative approach was used to determine the impact that financial problems have on employees’ productivity. The researcher utilized the quantitative approach because she wanted to base her knowledge gained on objective measurements of the real world, not one someone’s opinion, beliefs or past experiences. Applied research was relevant to this study as the knowledge gained, can be utilized to resolve productivity problems impacted by financial problems. The study was an exploratory research as little is known about this subject. The researcher used probability sampling with a simple random sampling method to select the sample of 30 respondents from the population of 320 employees. The researcher compiled a questionnaire to collect information from the employee’s. The results derived from all the respondents indicated that, employees at the Department of Social Services Population and Development Ermelo District experience financial problems. The problem has a negative impact on their productivity and other problems are stated to be emanating from financial problems. It also revealed that there is no Employee Assistance Programme in the Department. The problems of employees are left unattended hence there is no method that is used to address them. It is then concluded that financial problems has a negative impact on the employee’s job productivity, hence there is a need for introduction and implementation of an Employee Assistance Programme. / Dissertation (MSD (EAP))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

Introduction: The surprising presence of P. vivax in West Africa and their ability to infect a Duffy negative population is one more threat to public health. In order to contribute to malaria elimination efforts, there is a need to investigate the origin and characteristics of P. vivax population isolates in Northern Mali. Next Generation Sequence Analysis (NGSA) can help us understand parasite genetic characteristics although low parasite density is a challenge for whole genome sequencing (WGS). In the present work, we investigated if selective whole genome amplification (sWGA) can enrich P. vivax DNA extracted from Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) for Whole Genome Sequencing. We also investigated the origin and the susceptibility to antimalarial drugs of the strains isolated in Northern Mali. Methods: Parasite DNA was extracted from 267 RDTs using the QIAamp DNA mini kit, then nested PCR and 7 samples were positive for P. vivax. After sWGA, the whole genomes were sequenced using the Illumina platform. Next Generation Sequences Analysis was done followed by population differentiation analyses. Twenty-two additional P. vivax whole genomes from other parts of the World were downloaded from the European Nucleotide Archive for further Neighbour Joining analysis. Results: The sequences extracted from RDTs showed high contamination with human DNA (80%). From the parasite DNA, in total 69529 SNPs were found in the seven P. vivax strains of Northern Mali. The most significant p-values per SNP were carried by the chromosomes 2, 3, 4, 5, 12, 13 and 14. With regard to variant effects, the Transition/Transversion ratio was 1.1. The density of variants with a high effect was 1.62%. There was no mutation associated with antimalarial drugs resistance on pvcrt-o or pvmdr-1 genes. Pairwise differentiation suggests a high degree of relatedness between P. vivax strains isolated in Northern Mali. The NeighboursJoining analysis shows clearly that strains from Mali cluster together and are genetically distinct from those from Mauritania, which shares a border with Mali. The strains isolated in Northern Mali are genetically closer to those from Madagascar, India and Latina America. Conclusion: We did not identify mutations associated to the resistance to antimalarial drugs in pvcrt-o and pvmdr-1 genes. This study confirms that P. vivax strains genetically distinct from those of Mauritania are circulating in Mali. Finally, we conclude that sWGA is a feasible approach for P. vivax DNA enrichment for WGS despite the high proportion of human contamination.

This paper seeks to investigate why did ECOWAS’s AFISMA fail to resolve the Malian conflict between 2012 and 2013. The idea is not to go over the different challenges that ECOWAS faced in handling the Malian conflict but to instead establish the single main challenge that inhibited ECOWAS from achieving its desired goals in resolving and managing the crisis in Mali. This thesis employed the theoretical framework of neoliberal institutionalism. Methodologically, this thesis has utilised critical discourse  analysis method.  The paper will analyse data from both primary sources (i.e ECOWAS’ policy documents, United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions on the Mali crisis, AU documents, Mali’s government documents, speeches and reports) and secondary sources (i.e news articles and media reports). This paper is arguing that the reason why ECOWAS’s AFISMA failed to resolve the Malian conflict with regards to its conflict management quest in Mali is the community’s lack of ownership of its military intervention initiative in the country. In agreement with its hypothesis the paper concluded by positing that indeed the ‘reason why ECOWAS’s AFISMA failed in its conflict management quest in Mali is the community’s lack of ownership of its military intervention initiative in the country’.

The parasitic weeds belonging to the genus Striga are among the world's most tenacious, prolific and destructive agricultural pests. Crop loss estimates due to Striga infestations can reach 100 percent. Furthermore, the weeds' affinity for low-fertility soils and low rainfall means that those farming the most marginal lands are most severely affected. Nonetheless, subsistence farmer have yet to adopt seemingly beneficial control practices to any appreciable degree. This paper develops a bio-economic model capable of identifying: (1) affordable, effective Striga control practices consistent with the resource constraints of subsistence farmers; and (2) barriers to the adoption of those practices. The model is comprised of two components: a biological component modeling Striga population dynamics, and an economic component representing the production opportunity set, resource constraints, and price parameters farmers face. The model is applied to two zones in Northwestern Mali, Sirakorola and Mourdiah, and solved using non-linear, dynamic programming. Data collected by the USAID IPM-CRSP/Mali project are used to specify the economic parameters of the model. A new technique for estimating the lower bound of a farmer's production planning horizon is also developed and employed in the application of the model to Sirakorola and Mourdiah. The results of several model scenarios indicate that the availability of information regarding the efficacy of Striga control practices is a primary barrier to their adoption by subsistence farmers. The movement of Striga seed between fields, however, is of limited importance. The "optimal control practices" identified by the model depend on the size and demographic composition of the production unit (UP), the zone in which the UP is located, and the cash budget available to the UP. At low budget levels, the model suggests planting millet without fertilizer at a high density in Sirakorola and a low density in Mourdiah. At high budget levels, the model suggests planting millet at a high density in both zones while applying urea. The benefits of adopting the optimal set of practices are presented in both nutritional and financial terms, and can reach as much as a ten-fold increase in the nutritional content of and financial returns to a harvest. / Ph. D.