In Mali, a landlocked country, the majority of the population lives below the poverty line, most of them women and children in rural areas. Since 1950, temperatures in the region have risen and rainfall drastically decreased. Trees have shifted south towards wetter areas. While the population is introducing new techniques, unsustainable farming and deforestation are further aggravating the situation.

The Tiediana village once relied on a stream and a natural lake to irrigate fields and fill fishponds. It is now dry more that 6 months per year, with a growing impact on soil erosion, and consequently on population nutrition and economic development.

In order to reinstate the environmental situation, The Mangrove Foundation supports SOS Sahel in the construction of a dam to retain water the whole year round, restore groundwater, re-introduce agriculture and fishing and replant trees to prevent desertification, impacting directly and indirectly a population of 27,000.