He has a few spots in mind but needs to gather more information before embarking on the weeks-long journey.
In the Sahel, climate change has translated into more frequent, longer drought spells that threaten the resilience capacity of nomadic livestock pastoralists like Adoum.
Freshwater points are scarce during the dry season and many animals are at risk of dying before reaching the next oasis.
When droughts occur, herders can cover several hundred to thousands of kilometres before finding an adequate water spot with enough water and vegetation to meet the needs of the many herds gathering there.
He is also a founding member of the African Network of Pastoralists, Bilital Maroobé.
Thanks to mobile phones, this information is literally at their fingertips.
Adoum is one of 21,000 pastoralists who use the Garbal mobile phone service to find where the best conditions are to move their herd.
The Sustainable Technology Adaptation for Mali’s Pastoralistsproject isn’t your typical public-private partnership.
The Netherlands, via Hoefsloot Spatial Solutions, provides the satellite imagery, Orange Mali operates the call centre and TASSAGHT, with its team of local pastoralists, collects and sends up-to-date information to complement the data coming from space.
“The first phase of the project closed in December 2018, but given its success, we are now looking to expand the service to other regions in Mali and beyond, and add services of relevance to pastoralists such as animal health counselling and digital financial products.” “Water scarcity is one of the most pressing challenges we are facing today, and ensuring access to abundant, safe, clean water sources is a great challenge, particularly in arid and semi-arid environments,” says Lis Mullin Bernhardt, freshwater expert at UN Environment.