MAURITANIA Food Security Update March 2010

 With the exception of harvests in southern Figure 1. Food security assessment for March 2010 agropastoral areas and western rainfed farming areas, harvests in all other parts of the country were smaller than projected in November of last year. In the absence of any new incentive measures, there is no reason to expect a large harvest of hot off‐season crops, which makes it unlikely that the October forecast putting hot off‐season crop production at approximately 31,000 MT will be borne out.

 However, despite the nationwide production shortfall and a scale‐back in Senegalese exports of coarse grain crops, there is still adequate food availability thanks to imports from Asia (rice), Europe (vegetables and other foodstuffs), Mali (coarse grains), and Morocco (fruits and vegetables). Markets across the country are well‐ stocked.

 In general, conditions in pastoral areas are still For more information on FEWS NET’s Food Insecurity Severity Scale, average, and trends in terms of trade are in favor of please see: www.fews.net/FoodInsecurityScale local households, except in transhumant pastoral Source: FEWS NET areas, western agropastoral areas, and the northern reaches of the Senegal River Valley.

 For the time being, food security levels are still in line with normal seasonal patterns, except in the case of poor farm families in the Senegal River Valley and central and eastern rainfed farming areas and farming‐oriented agropastoralist households in western and northern agropastoral areas and transhumant pastoral areas. The hunger season for this latter group of households is already underway and will continue until the growth of fresh pasture in July, for pastoralists, and until the next harvest of rainfed crops in September/October, for farmers. There are still high levels of food insecurity in urban slum areas of Nouakchott and .

Seasonal calendar and timeline of critical events

Source: FEWS NET

FEWS NET Mauritania FEWS NET Washington Nouakchott 1717 H St NW FEWS NET is a USAID-funded activity. The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the view of the United States Agency Tel: 222 525 39 18 Washington DC 20006 for International Development or the United States Government. [email protected] [email protected]

www.fews.net/mauritania

MAURITANIA Food Security Update March 2010

Overview of the food security situation

According to the heads of certain regional offices of the Ministry of Agriculture, previous harvest forecasts could be adjusted downwards by as much as 20 to 30 percent. Early rainfed crops were especially hard hit by periods of drought and the shortened rainy season in central and eastern rainfed farming areas and in lowlands across northern and western agropastoral areas. Conditions in and departments are mixed, with harvests of rainfed crops in the southern reaches of these departments generally mediocre, while the good performance of lowland crops in the northern reaches of these same departments is complementing good pastoral conditions in these areas. Unfortunately, though belonging to the same department, there is very little trade between these areas (the north and the south). The northern reaches of these departments, populated mainly by agropastoralists, get their food supplies from local crops and imports from Nouakchott, while the south, populated mostly by poor farmers, continues to rely on trade with Mali.

Grain availability on all markets in rainfed farming and agropastoral areas has markedly improved with high‐volume sales of Malian grain and the pick up in re‐exports of rice by Senegal. In general, markets are well‐stocked with imported foodstuffs. However, despite this large grain availability, prices for (local and imported) grain crops as well as for other foodstuffs are unusually high. The government has still not rebuilt its food security reserve to its target level of 6,000 MT.

Rainfed farming areas

Early rainfed crops for the 2009 season were affected by heavy grasshopper infestations during the sprouting stage and by a string of dry spells in August and September during subsequent developmental stages. In contrast, long‐cycle crops and crops in dam and lowland areas in central and western rainfed farming areas did relatively well. In the past, farmers had been growing mostly long‐cycle crops but, for the last two years, they have been planting more short‐cycle than long‐cycle crops in the face of uncertainties over end‐of‐season conditions.

Thus, household food stores in central and eastern rainfed farming areas, and throughout the central reaches of the Senegal River Valley, are virtually nil while, normally, these households would still have one to two months worth of crops left for on‐farm consumption. Households across central and eastern rainfed farming areas are not selling their crops on local markets or to village‐level food security reserve (SAVS) programs as they normally do. Only a single SAVS program in the village of N’Dreimani, some 18 kilometers southwest of Adel , has been restocked with locally‐grown long‐cycle crops. This means that these farmers will not only lose income by not selling their crops, but will not have access to affordable village‐level food security reserves during the upcoming hunger season between June and September, which will make them more vulnerable to swings in market prices.

Moreover, in contrast to previous years, this year, there are no wild foods (the fruit of baobab trees, jujube fruit, gum, baobab leaf meal, the fruit of balanite trees, etc.) for sale on weekly farmers markets, supposedly, due to the poor harvest. Households gathering these wild fruits and other plants have chosen to keep them for their own use instead of selling them on the market. As a result, proceeds from harvests of these wild plant foods are limited. Households are still selling straw at 200 CFAF or 100 UM per bale, as well as wood and charcoal (the price of a 50 kg sack has jumped from 800 UM to 1200 UM) to traders for shipment to markets in Nouakchott. This year, sale of these products as a coping strategy has increased.

The make‐up of local sources of food has been changing over the past five years in line with changes in agro‐climatic conditions. Crop production has been declining year after year, and out‐migration (to Mali and Senegal) has become a regular part of the livelihoods of poor households in this area. Moreover, even poor households have diversified their productive assets by acquiring small livestock herds. As a result, this year, poor households in central and eastern rainfed farming areas have been able to cope with hardship conditions in these areas by stepping up out‐migration (and increasing migrant remittances in the form of food) and making more use of local markets by selling their animals whenever the need arises. For the time being, these strategies are keeping this area moderately food‐insecure, but the deterioration in terms of trade for small animals/grain could weaken household grain access.

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MAURITANIA Food Security Update March 2010

Agropastoral areas

Crops grown in dam and lowland areas in the southern reaches of the country’s agropastoral zone did relatively well. Thanks to favorable terms of trade, agropastoralist households engaged mainly in livestock‐raising still have large enough food stores to meet their needs until April or May or, in other words, two months longer than usual.

In contrast, like households in rainfed farming areas, for the past few years, farming‐oriented households in these agropastoral areas looking to minimize agro‐meteorological risks have been concentrating on growing more short‐cycle crops. As a result, with the poor performance of these early crops, this year, on‐farm production, which normally meets five to six months worth of food needs, was barely enough for three months (November through January). Right now, five months after the harvest, these households have virtually no family food stores and are more or less completely reliant on the market and on borrowing against their future 2010/11 harvests.

Senegal River Valley

According to farmers, grasshopper infestations are responsible for the poor progress of walo crops, despite the hopes raised by the high water levels reported in October of last year. February estimates by FEWS NET and other food security partners put the size of the food‐insecure rural population at 441,000. This new information on the progress of walo crops and developments in rainfed farming areas is indicative of a clear deterioration in the food security situation of approximately 30 percent of farm families in central rainfed farming areas. As a result, the size of the food‐insecure rural population is expected to jump from 441,000 to 447,000.

Pastoral conditions

Pastoral conditions in the western reaches of the country (in transhumant pastoral areas and western agropastoral areas) are steadily deteriorating due to shortages of pasture. This has accelerated the departure of migratory animal herds (by two to three months). The direction and timing of herd movements in other parts of the country are still in line with normal seasonal patterns.

With the departure of migratory animals, there is a limited supply of livestock in transhumant pastoral areas and the Senegal River Valley. However, there are still large supplies of animals on markets provisioned by agropastoralists (Boghe and ) and middle‐income and wealthy households in rainfed farming areas (, Modibougou, and Treïdatt in Mauritania and Fasso Doumbé in Mali). Market supplies are low in northern areas (Akjoujt, Atar, and Zouerate) which, despite poor water availability, still have good pasture resources. These markets are still getting their supplies from Nouakchott.

Markets and trade

Trader inventories of imported grain crops in urban areas and on border markets in Mali are still extremely large. In a turn‐ around from their practices in previous years when Mauritanian grain traders would travel into crop‐producing areas to stock‐pile crops only at harvest time, now, these same Mauritanian grain traders are regularly buying grain, either through bartering with wholesalers or directly from farmers (who ship small cartloads of crops to weekly farmers markets every market day), at retail, and stock‐piling crops in anticipation of the next hunger season. They are renting or building warehouses in the cities of Adel Bagrou, , and Modibougou in a rainfed farming area on the country’s border with Mali where there are weekly markets doing a brisk business, which they are using to store their grain crops until the hunger season or in anticipation of possible local procurements by the government, international organizations (the WFP and FAO), and certain NGOs. Local procurements in Mauritania in 2008 and ongoing procurements in Mali appear to have motivated traders to engage in these transactions.

Despite what is barely an average harvest (and which, according to farmers, is clearly smaller than the 2008 harvest but only slightly smaller than the 2007 harvest), internal grain trade flows in rainfed farming and agropastoral areas are in line

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MAURITANIA Food Security Update March 2010

with normal trade patterns, though visibly smaller than the volume of imports. The sole factor limiting this internal trade is poor local grain availability. In any event, Nouakchott, provisioned mainly by coarse grain exports by Mali and imports from Europe, Asia, and North Africa, is still the main supply hub for the restocking of all domestic markets. Affolé used to be the grain basket for the Tamchakett, Kiffa, and Aïoun markets but, in the past few years, its mediocre grain harvests forced Kiffa and Aïoun to rely mainly on grain shipments from the south. This year, however, the Kiffa and Aïoun markets are once again getting grain supplies from Affolé.

The Nema market is selling grain from Ferrini and Bousteilla, the two main crop‐producing areas in that region. The Ould Yengé and Kankossa markets in agropastoral areas are selling grain crops from . The M’Bout market (in an agropastoral area of Gorgol) is still getting grain supplies from Aftout (mainly from Agueilat).

There is also a shift in the pattern of trade between Mauritania and Mali from eastern to central rainfed farming areas, away from the Bassikounou (the partner market for Lere), (the partner market for Nara), and (the partner market for Nioro) markets, to the Modibougou market in Mauritania and the Fasso Doumbe market in Mali. At this juncture, there are no signs of any major change in the Senegal River Valley and in transhumant pastoral areas.

There is a brisk cross‐border trade in all border areas, but with major shifts in the volume of trade. Trade flows from Mauritania to Senegal, mainly involving livestock exports and re‐exports of food crops and vegetables imported from Europe and Morocco, have picked up. Trade flows from Senegal to Mauritania are limited to exports of local rice crops from the Valley and re‐exports of Asian rice. Unlike the case in previous years, the volume of coarse grain exports by Senegal is very limited. In contrast, there is an extremely large flow of coarse grain exports by Mali in border areas, on markets in regional capitals, and in Nouakchott. These exports involve grain, as well as other foodstuffs (in many cases, re‐exports) and livestock (sheep and goats). Malian farmers bringing in good harvests are selling their surplus crops as a way of purchasing cattle.

Movements in coarse grain prices hinge on fluctuations in the exchange rate for the ouguiya against the CFA franc much more so than on supply which, by far, outstrips local demand. The exchange rate for the ouguiya, which was at 2900 UM per 5000 CFA francs in January, fell to 2600 UM for the same amount of CFA francs in February, which makes re‐exports of crops via the port of Nouakchott more profitable. Retail prices for sorghum, for example, which ranged from 130‐140 UM in January, have fallen to 120‐130 UM. Though the harvest season for flood‐recession and lowland crops is already underway, with most market supplies of coarse grain crops coming from Mali, this trend in sorghum prices is attributable to the widespread use of bartering in transactions involving bulk sales. In fact, Malian traders are shipping large loads of sorghum crops to Mauritanian markets, where they are bartering them for oil, sugar, flour, tea, and cigarettes. Only farmers are selling crops for cash, at prices of from 80 to 100 UM/kg. In contrast, prices for livestock in general and cattle in particular are up sharply with the heavy demand from Malian farmers, who are selling a large part of their crops in order to purchase cows.

There has been a deterioration in terms of trade for small animals (goats) in the central reaches of the country (between Kobenni in southern Hodh El Gharbi and Dar Salam in southwestern Kiffa, in Assaba) from the standpoint of local households, with the average price of a goat somewhere in the range of 7,000 to 10,000 UM, while prices for food crops are steadily rising. The sale of a goat back in November of last year, at harvest time, bought roughly 87.5 kg worth of crops, compared with a mere 58.3 kg this month. The situation is the same in transhumant pastoral areas and western agropastoral areas. On the other hand, terms of trade are still favorable for local households in other agropastoral areas.

There is very little risk of domestic markets facing shortages between now and the end of the marketing season and the first shipments of fresh rainfed crops in September, which should continue to be provisioned with surplus crops from Mali (coarse grain crops), re‐exports (of rice) from Senegal, Moroccan exports (of vegetables), and imports (of Asian rice and of other food crops from Europe), provided current supply channels are not disrupted by any instability factors. Weekly markets in border areas of Mali should continue operating, and border markets in Senegal should resume exporting grain as of April. However, the presence of Senegalese grain traders on weekly markets in western rainfed farming areas (between Yelimane and Kayes) suggests that there is still a strong demand for grain in Senegal, which could prompt Senegalese grain traders to redirect their stockpiled grain corps into grain‐short areas of their own country instead of shipping them to border markets in Mauritania. Moreover, the lack of hot off‐season rice crops in the Niger Delta could heighten domestic

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MAURITANIA Food Security Update March 2010

demand in Mali for coarse grain crops earmarked for export and, thus, raise the price of these exports. However, there is every indication that, even under these conditions, markets will continue to function. With prices in border areas generally higher than in the interior, a steady cross‐border trade should continue to meet demand in Mauritania.

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ANNEX: Mauritania Monthly Price Bulletin March 2010

Wheat and local rice are the most important food commodities for the poorest households. Middle income and more wealthy households consume imported rice instead. The Socogim market in Nouakchott is the most important market in the country and has linkages to Senegal and Morocco.

*NOTE: Historic prices only available for the capital city market. Data collection now starting in other markets noted on the map.

Monthly prices are supplied by FEWS NET enumerators, local government agencies, market information systems, UN agencies, NGOs, and other network and private sector partners.

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