FAMINE EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS NETWORK MAURITANIA a USAID Project Managed by Chemonics International Inc
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FAMINE EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS NETWORK MAURITANIA A USAID project managed by Chemonics International Inc. TEL: (222) 525 39 18 FAX: (222) 525 39 18 E-mail: [email protected] MONTHLY REPORT FOR MAY 2002 RAPPORT MENSUEL DU MOIS DE MAI 2002 This report covers the period from April 25 to May 28, 2002 Summary Food security continues to deteriorate in all rural areas of the country, as well as in slum areas of Nouakchott and Nouadhibou. Information from local farmers and regional agricultural agencies in the Gorgol, Brakna and Trarza Wilayas during the last ten days of May suggests that this year's lean period (soudure) will be the worst since 1984, a year of food crisis in the Sahel. Household capacity to access needed food products is sharply reduced and, in certain parts of Aftout, the Senegal River Valley, Hodh El Gharbi and Hodh El Chargui Wilayas, is at its lowest level in ten years. This situation stems from a combination of several factors — this past year's smaller grain harvests, dwindling or loss of potential water resources, the sudden loss of large numbers of small animals in January, the growing shortages of pasture and wild foods in the wake of the January storms, hikes in staple food prices and the inadequacy of the humanitarian aid furnished to date, both from a qualitative as well as a quantitative standpoint. It is becoming increasingly difficult for households to manage their food security during this year's lean period, which began two months earlier than usual. Their only recourse is migration and borrowing. FEWS NET reports widespread migration from areas of Aftout, Hodh El Gharbi and Hodh El Chargui. Tired of coping with the harsh living conditions in central Aftout and Hodh El Chargui (Amourj, Bassikounou and Djiguenni Moughataas), local residents have drifted closer to major roads and water sources. Such a phenomenon has been unheard of since 1984. With the first rains falling in Mali, seasonal migration from Mauritania into western Mali has speeded up. Prices of local and imported grains continue to soar. Grain imports from Mali and Senegal bound for the large cities are clearly picking up, but these imports are bypassing residents of rural villages in border areas. 1. Overview of Current Food Security Conditions and Prospects Food security conditions around the country have deteriorated as a result of the limited availability of traditional grains (millet, sorghum and maize) on local markets and at the individual household level, the loss of large numbers of small livestock traditionally serving as a means of access to marketed food products, and the unavailability of wild plant products used as a means of coping with food shortages. It's no longer enough to simply cut down on the size of individual portions. Farm families have reached the point of having to skip entire meals. The absence of evening fires in most villages throughout Aftout and the Senegal River Valley is a reflection of the magnitude of food insecurity problems. Heavy emigration may have reduced the number of mouths to feed, but remittances (of food and cash) from migrant workers are dwindling due to the soaring food prices and lack of available jobs in urban areas. The current food situation throughout Aftout and in central Hodh El Gharbi and Hodh El Chargui is so bad, unless mitigated, that a famine appears inescapable at this point. The food crisis in these areas is heightened by the lack of a safe water supply, the weak purchasing power of the local population in what is regarded as the most poverty-stricken area of the country, and the limited benefits of grain imports from neighboring countries. Changes in grain import and transfer mechanisms (currently in the hands of grain traders out of Nouakchott) with Mali and Senegal and lack of purchasing power continue to limit the access of local residents to food through the markets. Residents of the Senegal River Valley, eastern Aftout (Barkéol Moughataa and the western part of M’Bout Moughataa) and southwestern Hodh El Gharbi (Touil District in Tintane Moughataa) are extremely vulnerable to food insecurity. The first fruit crop from the country's stands of Boscia senegalensis trees is already being picked by gatherers of wild plant products, who cannot wait for the fruits to mature. Falling prices for emaciated sheep and cattle in livestock-raising areas of the country are undermining household purchasing power and food security. The purchasing power of herders and their families is eroded further by losses in January of small livestock that were kept as part of a « family bank ». Supplies of milk and other dairy products are tight as a result of: 1) The departure of migratory animal herds two or three months ahead of schedule; and 2) The growing scarcity of pasture used to feed animals left behind by migrating herders.. Though food markets still have ample supplies of rice, wheat, and wheat products (flour and pasta), prices continue to climb. 1.A. Current Conditions and Prospects in Farming Areas 1.A.1. Areas with a Single Farming System There has been very little change in conditions in these areas since April. In Guidimakha Wilaya, residents of Ould Yengé Moughataa are still being classified as extremely food-insecure. They remain unable to benefit from grain imports from the Kayes region of Mali, which are now being intercepted by large-scale grain traders from Nouakchott. Residents of Kankossa are looking to Kiffa, which is now getting less and less grain from Affolé, an area where the OXFAM umbrella program has improved production and marketing system management practices. In Selibaby Moughataa, the status of moderately food-insecure population groups has improved slightly since April. Apparently, the volume of cash remittances has swelled as more and more migrants become aware of the problems in this area and step up remittances to their families back home. 2 In Trarza Wilaya, the inability of local farmers to plant hot off-season crops (February to June), due to credit problems preventing them from purchasing seeds and other inputs, has aggravated the grain deficit in this area. Imports of Senegalese rice are benefiting large-scale traders rather than local consumers. The local population is still being classified as extremely food-insecure. In livestock-raising areas of the country, milk production by animals left behind by migratory herders to help feed their families is declining. This is affecting the households’ food security by limiting what is domestically available for consumption and what can be sold on the market. (Milk sales to collection agents for pasteurization plants at 150 UM per liter had previously provided these households with access to a number of food products, such as rice, wheat, sugar and tea). Thus, the status of this population group, classified as moderately food-insecure in April, is deteriorating. 1.A.2. Areas with Mixed Farming Systems The food security situation in these areas after the last harvests of the season is similar to that of areas with a single farming system. Household stores of locally-grown grains are nonexistent and, without adequate cash income, residents of these areas are forced to resort to bartering. Local farmers continue to borrow grain at increasingly higher and usurious rates of interest. Some farmers are able to borrow grain against their future harvests, depending on the degree of trust between lender and borrower. Farmers from Monguel Moughataa interviewed in Kaëdi indicated that they had borrowed a 50 kg sack of wheat selling for 3,500 UM in cash against a pledge to pay back three 50 kg sacks of sorghum from their next harvest, with each sack of sorghum (equivalent to 12.5 mouds) currently fetching anywhere from 6,250 to 7,500 UM. This past April and May, farmers in Aftout were unable to engage in seasonal work paid in kind or cash — such as drawing water for animals or tending animal herds — for migrating herds stopped in the area only briefly before moving on in search of water and pasture. Like farmers in Adwaba settlements of Hodh El Gharbi and Hodh El Chargui, the farm population of Aftout is facing a serious water shortage as area wells continue to run dry. A number of encampments have pulled up stake to move closer to major roads and water sources. The entire farm population of Aftout and the Senegal River Valley and of Adwaba settlements in central Hodh El Gharbi and Hodh El Chargui is classified as extremely food-insecure. 1.B. Current Conditions and Prospects in Agropastoralist Areas. The human population in livestock-raising areas of the country is on the move. Very few herders and their families are left in these areas since, with the exception of households with mixed herds of small livestock consisting mainly of goats, everyone has left for the south, with its more abundant water resources and better grazing lands. Up until April, with their deficit management systems for shortfalls in rainfed crop production still operating relatively smoothly, agropastoralists were the least vulnerable population group. However, their situation is rapidly changing as the terms of trade for their crops and animal products versus grains continue to deteriorate. In December 2001, an average sheep selling for 10,000 UM on the Kaëdi market bought its owner 154 kg of sorghum. As of April 17, the same sheep was selling for 14,000 UM but bought only 117 kg of sorghum, as the price of a moud (approximately 4 kg) of sorghum jumped from 280 UM to 480 UM in this time period. As of May 20, the price for an average sheep had fallen back 3 down to 12,000 UM as a result of the physical wasting of animals.