ABIDJAN, 13 January 2009 (IRIN) – Seven-year-old Ali Sangaré held up two unopened packages of biscuits as if he had just won a prize.
“This will be our breakfast tomorrow,” he said gleefully.
Then he shoved his hands back into the rubbish pile to search for more edibles.
The mounting piles of rubbish in Côte d’Ivoire’s commercial capital Abidjan are a health hazard, but many children told IRIN they are also a daily source of food.
Scavenging in rubbish tips is nothing new – plastic bottles and other saleable items abound and can yield cash. But the children IRIN spoke to said that more and more they are sifting through the rubbish in search of food.
“We bring it all home to sort out among the family,” 12-year-old Mamoudou Traoré told IRIN. “We do not have money and we have to eat.”
Poverty is on the rise in Côte d’Ivoire. Slightly under half of the country’s 20 million people are now below the poverty threshold, living on less than about US$1.25 per day – up from 38.4 percent in 2000 and the highest in 20 years, according to survey results released by the national statistics institute in November.
“Up to a few months ago we begged at the big intersections,” Traoré told IRIN. “We used to be able to bring some money back to our families to buy food. But this no longer provides much because people are not so generous any more.”
He said he and his friends used to be able to find plenty of leftovers at restaurants. “But for a long time now, it is rare to see people leaving much on their plates. So we have had to look elsewhere.”
Photo: Alexis Adele/IRIN
Youths seeking recyclables and food at a municipal dump in Abidjan
Traoré and his friends said they often find in the rubbish stale or expired foods that shop- and restaurant-owners throw out, as well as produce like carrots, onions, oranges and bananas.
Risk
One hygiene expert told IRIN the health risk from the mounting trash heaps is greatest for the poorest groups.
