大象传媒

Alex Duval Smith writes from Mali's high Bandiagara escarpment, a cultural and agricultural redoubt for the Dogon people, with a magical tale of superlative shallots, a well in a cave inhabited until recently by a water spirit, and one farmer who can sniff out a spy. Life in Kama Sereme is not easy, and it takes hard work to carve a living from the earth - but Kaye Djiguiba knows his onions. Still, he asks, wouldn't it be easier for everyone - not least the village's women, who have to fetch and carry vast amounts of water - if there were an easier way to irrigate the fields?

(Photo: Kaye Djiguiba in his shallot beds (c) Alex Duval Smith)