MAURITANIA Food Security Update August 2009

• Food insecurity levels in rainfed farming areas (zone Figure 1. Estimated food security conditions, August 2009. 6) and agropastoral areas (zone 5) in the southern and southeastern parts of the country are stable (Figures 1 and 2), where the rainy season is already underway, facilitating planting activities and improving conditions for small animals. However, shortages of on‐farm or commercial supplies of selected seeds forcing farmers to turn to the market have reduced the size of areas planted in crops compared with last year.

• Conditions for livestock in the central reaches of oasis, pastoral, and cultivated wadi areas (zone 2) have also improved. In contrast, most of the River Valley and most transhumant pastoralist areas have still not gotten any rain, where sedentary and transhumant pastoralists have begun to sell female For more information on the FEWS NET food insecurity severity scale, visit and, in some cases, even milking animals in order to www.fews.net/FoodInsecurityScale. buy animal feed. However, with supplies still at a Source: FEWS NET reasonable level, pastoralists are not yet considered to be in crisis.

• Markets are still well supplied with food crops and coarse grain prices are still generally stable, except for the price of rainfed sorghum, millet, and cowpea crops driven up by the need for seeds.

Seasonal calendar and timeline of critical events

Renewed Hunger season imports Rainy season Flood- Flood- from Rain-fed and winter irrigated recession recession Land preparation, sowing Senegal harvests sowing harvest

May-09 Jun-09 Jul-09 Aug-09 Sep-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09 Jan-10 Feb-10 Mar-10 Livestock April 09 Livestock depart for April 10 return from Elections Demonstrations in migration migration 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 August 2009

Overview of food security conditions

The onset of the rainy season in July and the good Figure 2. Livelihood zone map of Mauritania temporal distribution of rainfall have been of considerable help in lowering food insecurity levels. Thus, in general, food security conditions are in keeping ALGERIA with normal seasonal trends in all livelihood zones with the exception of transhumant pastoralist areas and western agropastoral areas, where large rainfall deficits are affecting both farming and livestock‐raising TIRIS ZEMMOUR activities. The government’s « Homeward Bound »

program subsidizing travel costs for migrant workers in Zouérat urban areas wishing to return home to their farms as a way of boosting nationwide crop production has still not WESTERN SAHARA

Nouadibhou begun as expected after the elections. A shortage of ADRAR DAKHLET NOUADHIBOU Atar farm labor at this crucial land and seed preparation INCHIRI stage could adversely affect the size of the area planted Akjoujt in crops during the growing season. Markets are still well supplied with imported food crops. Tidjikdja TAGANT Nouakchott HODH ECH CHARGUI NOUAKCHOTT TRARZA The improvement in pastoral conditions is beginning to Aleg BRAKNA Kîfa Ayoûn el 'Atroûs Néma have a positive effect on food insecurity levels in rainfed ASSABA HODH EL GHARBI Kaédi farming areas (zone 2), agropastoral areas (zone 5), and GORGOL SENEGAL GUIDIMAKA the eastern reaches of the Senegal River Valley (zone 7), Sélibaby 0 100 200 MALI particularly in Maghama and Kaedi departments. Terms Kilometers of trade are improving in the face of the rising prices of Source: FEWS NET Mauritania livestock and stable prices of imported grain (rice and wheat), particularly in agropastoral areas (zone 5) and the southeastern reaches of livelihood zone 6, where Malian exports have significantly improved coarse grain supplies.

There has been a visible improvement in environmental conditions for the pursuit of farming and livestock‐raising activities in rainfed farming areas (zone 6) over conditions in previous months despite rainfall deficits compared with the 2004/08 average and figures for the same time last year. As a result, food insecurity levels are down sharply, particularly in the southeastern reaches of this livelihood zone, which had been classified as highly food‐insecure. The physiological condition of animals has improved with the growth of fresh pasture, with livestock prices rising from 18,000 UM at the beginning of July to over 20,000 UM by the end of the third dekad of July, though they have since fallen back down. There is a steady flow of exports of Malian grain and market supplies of food crops are still ample, as the rains have not yet disrupted shipments of supplies from Nouakchott.

There are two different trends in agropastoral areas (zone 5), according to the geography of the area in question. On the one hand, food access has improved considerably in southern and eastern agropastoral areas as local rainfall conditions spurred the growth of new pasture and the maturation of wild fruits (boscia senegalensis or “anza” berries) and allowed for the gathering of wild foods (mostly leaves). On the other hand, the late start of the rainy season in northern and western agropastoral areas is affecting agropastoralists engaged mainly in livestock‐raising. Though local markets are well supplied and livestock prices are rising, this group is still plagued by poor food access due to the sharp deterioration in terms of trade. In fact, knowing that low and moderate‐income households in these agropastoral areas are under pressure to sell their livestock to meet household food and animal feeding needs and to pay back loans from tradesmen, traders are offering them very low prices (11,000 to 12,000 UM for an average sheep for example) and reselling the animals on the Boghé market for more than 15,000 UM. Migrant remittances, which were the main source of income and food access in these agropastoral areas, are down sharply with the return of migrant workers. Borrowing has become the main source of food access for households in this part of livelihood zone 5 forced to limit their sales of animals to prevent the depletion of their herds.

Famine Early Warning Systems Network 2

MAURITANIA Food Security Update August 2009

Harvests of hot off‐season rice crops in southern transhumant pastoralist areas (zone 4) are ending, but grazing conditions in these areas are still poor due to a shortage of rainfall, particularly in the north and the east housing over 80 percent of the local animal population. Pastoralists in livestock‐raising areas of and R’Kiz departments are selling more cows than bull calves in order to buy animal feed. These female animals, in some cases cows still accompanied by their calves, are being bought primarily by businessmen and government officials. Bulls and bull calves are still being sold on livestock markets, oftentimes for slaughter. While, in the first case, the absence of middlemen allows households to keep the entire price paid for their animals and, thus, benefit from favorable terms of trade, in the second case, marketing costs (the cost of shipping, animal feed, water, overhead, etc.) can add to as much as a third of the price commanded for each head of stock, creating unfavorable terms of trade for livestock‐selling households.

There has been little if any change in the food situation in coastal areas (zone 3) since July. Prices for rice, oil, and sugar long held in check by government price control measures have been rising since the end of the elections in mid‐July. There is still no sign of food price increases liable to significantly affect household food access in rural areas, where fish prices are on the rise. Virtually the entire rural population of this livelihood zone is directly or indirectly dependent on fishing. On the other hand, a small rise in prices is creating hardships for poor, market‐dependent households in urban slum and fringe areas of Nouakchott and Nouadhibou with low, erratic incomes.

The heavy rainfall in northern oasis and pastoral areas has produced significant amounts of pasture which, in turn, have considerably improved the physiological condition of animals in these areas. Though livestock prices are stable, milk production has visibly improved household food access. As usual, poor households have planted sorghum, cowpeas, and watermelons in depressions. This new food source should further strengthen conditions in this reasonably food‐secure area with a highly diversified local economy (based on the growing of dates, vegetables, barley and forage crops in oasis areas and sorghum and cowpea crops in depression areas, extensive cattle‐raising activities, and a highly lucrative cross‐border trade).

UNICEF nutrition and health survey

UNICEF has just released the findings from its nutrition and health survey conducted in conjunction with the Mauritanian Health Ministry (MS) and National Bureau of Statistics (ONS) using the SMART method. It is a cross‐sectional, descriptive survey with a stratified, two‐stage sampling approach. The sample covers all parts of the country, which is broken down into the following seven [sic] survey areas:

• The southeastern area (1), encompassing the Hod El Charghy and Hod El Gharby regions; • The central area (2), encompassing the Tagant, Brakna, and Assaba regions; • The southern area (3), encompassing the Guidimakha and Gorgol regions; • The Nouakchott area (4), encompassing the 9 districts of Nouakchott; • The northern area (5), encompassing the Tiris, Adrar, Inchiri, and Dakhlet Nouadhibou regions; • The Trarza area (6), encompassing the Trarza region.

As expected, according to the survey, the nationwide prevalence of global acute malnutrition is 11.8 percent (Figure 3a), which is normal in the midst of the hunger season, after a year marked by good rainfall conditions. The survey also puts the prevalence of severe acute malnutrition at 1 percent, at the same level as in the post‐harvest period, and below the expected rate of 1.8 percent,. The stabilization of this rate during the past year could be attributable to the effects of the assistance programs conducted by the country’s food security partners.

Geographically speaking, the country is divided in half, into high‐prevalence areas (the central, southern and eastern areas) with rates of from 12.5 to 19.2 percent, and low‐prevalence areas (the northern, Nouakchott, and Trarza areas), with rates of under 10 percent. Seasonal fluctuations in nationwide rates are most pronounced in high‐prevalence agropastoral areas highly dependent on agropastoral production. By WHO standards, the central and southern areas in particular, with global acute malnutrition rates of over 15 percent, followed by the southeast, are serious problem areas requiring emergency interventions.

Famine Early Warning Systems Network 3

MAURITANIA Food Security Update August 2009

These figures indicate a sharp rise in global acute malnutrition levels across the country compared with data from the rapid nutritional survey conducted back in December of last year and confirm trends observed in recent nutritional surveys conducted during the hunger season. In fact, the prevalence of malnutrition according to this survey is slightly below the figure (of 12.6%) emerging from the 2007 MICS conducted by the ONS during the hunger season and just above the prevalence rate (of 12.0%) established by the rapid national survey jointly conducted by the Health Ministry and UNICEF in March of 2008 at the beginning of the hunger season. The survey data is consistent with the findings by FEWS NET studies of food insecurity levels and food security outlooks. Figure 3a. Findings by the May/June 2009 SMART survey Figure 3b. Findings by the May/June 2009 SMART survey of acute malnutrition as measured by the weight/height of chronic malnutrition as measured by the weight/height index index Severe Acute Global Acute Severe Chronic Global Chronic Region Number Region Number Malnutrition Malnutrition Malnutrition Malnutrition

Source: Joint Health Ministry/UNICEF survey

Progress of the growing season

Despite good rainfall activity in the last dekad of July, farming areas (southern Brakna and northern Gorgol) and livestock‐ raising areas (transhumant pastoralist areas) are still showing large rainfall deficits compared with the (2004/08) average and the same time last year (Figures 4A and 4B).

Figure 4A: Satellite image of estimated cumulative rainfall Figure 4B: Comparison of differences in rainfall amounts anomalies for the period from May 1st through July 31, for the periods from May 1st to July 31, 2009 and May 1st to 2009, compared with the (2004/08) average July 31, 2008

Source: FEWS NET/USGS Source: National Meteorological Service

Famine Early Warning Systems Network 4

MAURITANIA Food Security Update August 2009

These rainfall conditions are responsible for the mixed results in terms of crop and pasture growth and development (Figures 5A and 5B). There is sufficient new plant cover in rainfed farming areas (zone 6), southern agropastoral areas (zone 5), and northwestern pastoral, oasis, and crop‐growing areas (zone 2) to feed local and transhumant herds. However, other areas are reporting only small scattered pockets of pasture in depression areas, forcing local households to resort to buying animal feed.

Figure 5 A: Satellite estimate of biomass production Figure 5 B: Satellite estimate of NDVI anomalies for the (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index – NDVI) for the period from May 1st through July 31, 2009 period from May 1st through July 31, 2009

Translation (top to bottom): Bare soil – extreme; bare, dry soil; bare wet soil; emerging vegetation; weak coverage; poor coverage; average coverage; good coverage; very good coverage; no data; ocean. Source: FEWS NET/USGS

Like natural pasture, crops are in various stages of development ranging from the sowing to the height growth stage. Short‐ cycle sorghum crops planted in the second dekad of July in rainfed farming areas are in the height growth stage, though most crops are still in the tillering stage. Farmers in western and northern agropastoral areas and the central River Valley (zone 7) are still planting their fields, mainly with long‐cycle sorghum, watermelon, and cowpea crops. Seed access problems appear to have been eased to some extent by an increasingly large flow of Malian exports of rainfed sorghum crops, which explains the sharp pick‐up in planting rates in the last dekad of July and the first dekad of August. Still, planting rates are down sharply from the same time last year and from figures for a so‐called “normal” year, which could mean a smaller harvest than last year and, thus, less household grain availability. Even with traditional social and commercial coping mechanisms (the prompt payment of loans and fees immediately following the harvest), this will curtail the food access of poor and moderate‐income households and will mean an earlier than usual hunger season in 2010.

Many flood recession crop‐growing areas (dam, bottomland, and “walo” areas) in the country’s agropastoral livelihood zone and in the Senegal River Valley have still not gotten any rain. By this time in a so‐called “normal” year, water levels in these areas are at roughly 50 percent. As unusual as they are, conditions in these areas are still not raising any concerns, since water levels could still rise with heavy local and subregional (in Guinea and Mali) rainfall activity in August and September. After the end of September, regardless of water levels at that time, crops will not be very productive, with the lack of rain liable to affect crop calendars and impair the quality of mature crops (sorghum), resulting in crop losses and/or sharp drops in yields.

The size of areas planted in irrigated crops is also down sharply as a result of poor access to farm credit for the purchasing of inputs, the inoperability of certain small‐scale village irrigation and medium‐size irrigation schemes in Gorgol in extremely poor condition currently undergoing renovation, problems with harvests of hot off‐season crops (which are particularly striking in the western reaches of the Senegal River Valley where many rice farmers have still not finished

Famine Early Warning Systems Network 5

MAURITANIA Food Security Update August 2009

bringing in their crops due to shortages of equipment and farm laborers returning home to plant their own rainfed crops), and the low level of the river. According to specialized units attached to the Ministry of Agriculture (SONADER and DPSE), last year, a total of 18,327 hectares were planted in rainy season crops, compared with a mere 7,827 hectares as of August 10th of this year, or 7,477 ha of rice, 320 ha of corn/sorghum, and 30 ha of diversified crops. This late in the season, a major change in conditions is highly unlikely, given the riskiness of engaging in rice‐farming activities after the first dekad of August.

The level of the river is still low due to poor rainfall conditions and the impounding of water by the Manantalli dam, which is unusual at this time of year, in the middle of August. Dam, depression, and basin areas generally fill up with water from local rainfall and runoff during the month of August, which is generally the wettest month of the rainy season, as “walo” crops are enveloped by floodwaters from the river.

Markets and trade

Markets are still well supplied with imported food crops. Coarse grain availability in Nouakchott is steadily improving, where there is a growing demand for grain in anticipation of the month‐long celebration of Ramadan. Many households are resorting to eating sorghum and millet porridge. In contrast, coarse grain availability has tightened considerably in border areas where the planting season for rainfed crops is coming to an end. Enumerators in areas along the country’s border with Senegal are still reporting a slowing of re‐exports of rice to Gorgol, Brakna, and Trarza, combined with a continuing large outflow of Mauritanian grain to Senegalese villages bordering on southeastern Gorgol. Failing to attract local buyers (the FAO and NGOs), Mauritanian grain traders have begun exporting their grain inventories, competing with the very small‐scale retailers driving cross‐border trade.

Prices for food commodities are stable. Prices for rainfed sorghum crops have inched upwards in Boghé, in the Senegal River Valley (zone 6), while corn prices are down in the Magta Lahjar agropastoral area (zone 5). Only the Adel Bagrou border market, in a rainfed farming area, is reporting sizeable downswings in prices compared with average price figures for the period from November of last year to May of this year (10 percent for local rice, 12 percent for imported rice, and 14 percent for wheat). The lower prices on this border market frequented by Malians are due in part to the rise in the value of the Ouguiya against the West African franc during the reference period. Moreover, the improvement in rainfall conditions in Mali and current exchange rates have helped strengthen food availability which, in turn, has driven down prices. Sheep prices are up sharply from the month of June, except in Boghé, the main livestock market for agropastoral areas plagued by large rainfall deficits. The combined effects of this rise in the price of sheep and the virtual stability of food prices have visibly improved terms of trade in most livelihood zones.

Famine Early Warning Systems Network 6

ANNEX: Mauritania Monthly Price Bulletin August 2009

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.

Famine Early Warning Systems Network i