Mauritania

74 percent of Mauritania’s poor live in rural areas, with much of the population relying on agriculture to survive. Of these, 60 percent are smallholder farmers and 20 percent seasonal workers with no land of their own; many are women, who are at a disadvantage due to persistent discrimination and an unequal burden of unpaid labour. An estimated 12.5 percent of children aged 5 to 14 work, primarily in agriculture, putting them at risk of the worst forms of child labour.

With 90 percent of agricultural production subsistence-based, large numbers of people are vulnerable to the effects of events such as droughts, floods and locust invasions, all of which are made worse by rapid soil erosion and desertification due to climate change. A series of major droughts in 2011, 2014, 2017 and 2018 weakened communities and damaged ecosystems, forcing many to cope by eating less and poorer quality food, and selling livestock at less than its market value.

Tensions within agricultural communities rise at times of crises, and natural resources – such as fishing stocks – are over-exploited. Poor storage facilities and transportation mean that as much as 30 percent of agricultural produce is lost after harvest.

Adding to Mauritania’s problems, regional instability continues to affect the country even at a time of relative security. Regular influxes of Malians fleeing violence have brought the population of the Mbera camp to around 65,000 refugees, placing a strain on host communities and limited environmental resources.

WFP has been working in Mauritania since 1964, providing relief assistance, livelihood support and humanitarian air services. Today, WFP is addressing the causes of vulnerability while working with the Government towards achieving its aims of reducing food insecurity to under 5 percent, eradicating severe food insecurity and reducing global acute malnutrition to under 2 percent by 2030.