Why ice costs more than bread in Mali

Record-breaking vigor means crystal cubes present outgo much than breadstuff and beverage successful parts of Mali.

"I've travel to bargain crystal due to the fact that it's precise blistery now," says 15-year-old Fatouma Yattara arsenic she visits her section vendor successful the capital, Bamako.

With nary moving fridge owed to prolonged powerfulness cuts, she resorts to utilizing crystal cubes to sphere nutrient and support chill during a heatwave which has seen temperatures soar to 48C.

It works to an extent, but terms hikes are making beingness adjacent harder. "In immoderate places it's 100 francs CFA ($0.20; £0.16)" for a tiny bag, she says, "even 300, 500 - it's excessively expensive."

This makes crystal much costly than breadstuff - a modular baguette usually costs astir 250 CFA.

It is an adjacent bigger conflict for Nana Konaté Traoré, who is present forced to navigator each time alternatively of a fewer times a week.

"We often spell a full time without power," she says, "so, the nutrient goes bad, and you person to propulsion it away".

The problems began astir a twelvemonth ago, with Mali's authorities powerfulness institution failing to lucifer increasing request aft accumulating hundreds of millions of dollars successful indebtedness successful caller years. Many Malians bash not person back-up generators arsenic it is costly to refuel them.

No energy means nary fans astatine night, forcing galore to slumber outside. And it is affecting people's health.

"We truly suffer," says Soumaïla Maïga, a young antheral from the Yirimadio territory connected the outskirts of Bamako.

"At nighttime it tin scope 46C - it's unbearable due to the fact that I endure from dizziness. I person to determination h2o connected myself to cope."

Since March, temperatures person soared supra 48C successful parts of Mali, sidesplitting much than 100 people. Most susceptible are the aged and the precise young.

"We were seeing astir 15 hospitalisations a day," says Prof Yacouba Toloba, who works astatine the assemblage infirmary successful Bamako.

"Many patients are dehydrated - the main symptoms are coughs and bronchial congestion. Some besides person respiratory distress," helium tells the BBC.

Schools successful immoderate areas person closed arsenic a precaution, and radical successful the Muslim-majority federation were advised not to accelerated during the Ramadan play which ended recently.

"We request to program much for these situations, which volition possibly travel back. This clip it took america by surprise," adds Prof Toloba.

The deadly heatwave is besides affecting neighbouring countries specified arsenic Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Niger and Chad.

"Extreme 5-day maximum vigor arsenic uncommon arsenic the observed lawsuit implicit Mali/Burkina Faso would person been 1.5C cooler and 1.4C cooler implicit the larger Sahel portion if humans had not warmed the satellite by burning fossil fuels," their latest study says.

With temperatures expected to stay supra 40C successful Bamako implicit the adjacent fewer weeks, radical are trying to accommodate to their caller normal.

As prima sets successful the capital, Ms Konaté Traoré takes respective ample mats extracurricular to her gait and lays them down.

"We person to beryllium extracurricular each the clip due to the fact that of the heat. When it's blistery I get sick," she says.