West African canaries in the gold mine

Water scarcity and periodic severe drought (including this year) create conditions for food and livelihood insecurity particularly as the majority of the population remains tied to the land and rivers via subsistence or cash-crop farming, herding, and fishing.8 Second, as the crisis in northern Mali illustrates (more below), the convergence of geography and lingering poverty creates political and [...] West African Canaries in the Gold Mine Page 4 by Chris W. J. Roberts March, 2013 West African Canaries in the Gold Mine President Amadou Toumani Touré (popularly known as ATT), the military man behind the 1991 coup and widely credited with putting the Army firmly back in the barracks, was on the verge of stepping down after his second elected term (2002-2012). [...] Wide agreement over the years on the need to revise the electoral system never translated into action, and elite complaints about institutional legitimacy undermined public confidence in the entire political system.26 By the time of the coup, 128 of 147 members of the National Assembly formed part of a loose governing coalition including five major parties and independents. [...] The public grooming of François, long known as “le Petit Président,” and his rise in the CDP has caused friction within the party as well as public consternation.37 And the riots of 2011 remain fresh in the minds of many, their root causes hardly addressed. [...] In Mali the bulk of the population reside in the south, mostly in or near Bamako and along the Niger River, while the vast north and parts of the south west are sparsely populated.