An aerial view shows Malian diggers loading boats with sand collected from the Niger River near Kangaba, in Mali's southwestern Koulikoro region, on October 2, 2018. - Increasing construction in the Malian capital has boosted the demand for bricks made out of high-quality Niger River sand. Diggers can travel more than 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Bamako to reach an extraction site, sometimes exposed to harsh weather conditions that endanger their fragile convoys. Once there, sand collectors dive down to the river bed to fill up buckets. They then tip their contents into a boat that can reportedly carry up to 10 tonnes of sand at a value of 50,000 CFA (around $80). While men usually collect the sand from river beds far from the capital for a total of 9000 to 13000 CFA (around $16 to $23) for three days of work, women unload it in Bamako for a rate of 1,000 CFA (around $1.75) per shipment. (Photo by Michele CATTANI / AFP)
An aerial view shows Malian workers loading sand collected from the Niger river bed into a truck at the port of Bamako on.
An aerial view shows Malian workers loading sand collected from the Niger river bed into a truck at the port of Bamako on October 7, 2018. (Photo by Michele CATTANI / AFP)
Increasing construction in the Malian capital has boosted the demand for bricks made out of high-quality Niger River sand. Diggers can travel more than 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Bamako to reach an extraction site, sometimes exposed to harsh weather conditions that endanger their fragile convoys.
An aerial view shows a Malian worker pooring water on sun dried bricks made from river sand at a factory in Bamako on October 9, 2018. (Photo by Michele CATTANI / AFP)
Once there, sand collectors dive down to the river bed to fill up buckets. They then tip their contents into a boat that can reportedly carry up to 10 tonnes of sand at a value of 50,000 CFA (around $80).
An aerial view shows Malian diggers loading boats with sand collected from the Niger River near Kangaba, in Mali’s southwestern Koulikoro region, on October 2, 2018. (Photo by Michele CATTANI / AFP)
While men usually collect the sand from river beds far from the capital for a total of 9000 to 13000 CFA (around $16 to $23) for three days of work, women unload it in Bamako for a rate of 1,000 CFA (around $1.75) per shipment.
A Malian digger dives in the waters of the Niger River to collect sand near Kangaba, in Mali’s southwestern Koulikoro region, on October 2, 2018. (Photo by Michele CATTANI / AFP)
