It's still a place where hopelessly urbanised weekenders and second-homers are willing to pay handsomely for rustic experiences, provided only too happily by locals whose other sources of income (such as whaling and potato farming) have long vanished.
Today, Produits du Sud has created an entirely new stream of income for rural Malians to supplement subsistence millet farming and pay for school fees, medical needs, and food in the lean months between harvests.