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AMINE ARLY ARNING YSTEM WORK MAURITANIA F E W S NET USAID project managed by Chemonics International Inc. TEL: (222) 525 39 18 FAX: (222) 525 39 18 E-mail: [email protected] MONTHLY REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 2003 This report covers the period from January 30 to February 27, 2003 Summary The cold spell continues, but the rains have given way to the usual sand storms, which are speeding up the degradation of the few remaining pockets of pastureland. All flood-recession crops have been harvested. Harvests of irrigated crops are still in progress and, while yields are average, according to farmers, crop production is significantly lower than anticipated at the beginning of the growing season. Riverbank crops (sweet potatoes, tomatoes, cowpeas, squash, watermelons, etc.) are maturing. On the whole, output from flood-recession crops (lowland and walo crops) has been mediocre at best, except in southeastern M’Bagne department where harvests of walo (flood-recession) crops were comparatively good, western and southern M’Bout department where yields from lowland crops were near-average, southwestern Amourj department and the southern half of Bassikounou department. Thus, before the start-up of relief programs in January (sales of wheat at subsidized prices and distributions of free food aid), the food crisis in the countryside was being dealt with by means of remittances from migrating family members. The food situation in many parts of Aftout, Hodh El Chargui and Hodh El Gharbi has visibly improved compared with December and early January. Local residents are impressed with the methods being used in ongoing food distribution programs. In fact, the World Food Program (WFP) has made arrangements with a number of NGOs, or nongovernmental organizations (Lutheran World Federation, World Vision, Accord, etc.) to handle distributions of food aid within their respective operating areas. A full-fledged famine can be avoided if these programs continue to be implemented in their current form for the envisioned length of time (3 to 6 months), but food insecurity levels are expected to remain high, since the target population for such program includes only a extremely small percentage of those in need. Conditions in the livestock sector are reaching a crisis. There is considerably less herbaceous plant cover available and pastoralists are being forced to resort to the use of increasingly expensive animal feeds. Implementation of the livestock assistance component of the relief program has been delayed, and pastoralists are selling off more and more stock animals. Cattle prices on all livestock markets around the country are down by more than 50 percent from September of last year. Ironically, the largest plunges in prices are being reported in areas where grazing conditions are the best they have been all season long. In Hodh El Chargui, a Maure milking cow and calf are selling for less than 60,000 UM, compared with an average selling price of 150,000 UM at the same time last year. Migratory movements are becoming increasingly chaotic, triggering countless disputes between farmers and pastoralists over straying animals wandering into fields of crops. Prices for staple food products are the highest they have been in the past five years. Supplies of coarse grains on markets in Trarza, Brakna and Gorgol are negligible. Grain supplies on markets in the country’s eastern regions (Assaba, Guidimakha and Hodh El Chargui and Hodh El Gharbi) consist mostly of millet and sorghum imported from Mali. FEWS NET/Mauritania Monthly Report for February 2003 2 I. NATURAL CONDITIONS AND PRODUCTION FACTORS I A. Rainfall The winter rains over the period from December to February were limited mostly to the northern reaches of the country but, even there, rainfall totals were low. Continuous sand storms in the central and southern parts of the country are speeding up the degradation of pasturelands and threatening to dry up surface water resources before the beginning of April. I B. Grazing conditions Grazing conditions in all parts of the country have deteriorated considerably. There is no herbaceous plant cover whatsoever in the Trarza and Brakna regions and the only remaining vegetative cover in Gorgol is in the southwestern corner of Maghama department. The small pockets of pastureland in southern Kankossa department, in Assaba, are being depleted by overgrazing by animal herds from the west (Trarza, Brakna and Gorgol) and north (northern Assaba and Tagant). There are still large pockets of pastureland in southern Hodh El Chargui and Hodh El Gharbi (particularly in southeastern Hodh El Chargui). Local pastoralists have already left the area for Mali and, in some cases, Burkina Faso, in anticipation of the arrival of their counterparts from other regions of the country. Pastoralists are wandering around in search of pasture until the beginning of the envisioned assistance program for the livestock sector, which includes extension services for growing forage crops and teaching concepts of grass regrowth in certain irrigated areas and sales of animal feed (wheat and “rakkal”) at subsidized prices. I C. Crop production factors by type of farming system Flood-recession crops (lowland and walo crops) in all parts of the country have already been harvested. Nationwide production figures are well under the forecasts issued by the Ministry of Rural Development and Environment (MDRE). The few remaining pockets of standing crops consist of sweet potato, cowpea and squash crops planted along the banks of the Senegal River and various streams (tributaries of the Gorgol Noir and Karakoro). These are all generally small plots cultivated by farmers living along these water courses. The only good vegetable harvests were in Trarza, Gorgol and Adrar. Harvests in all other regions of the country have been poor. The government’s emergency plan drawn up in September of last year includes a program for the cultivation of forage crops, both to improve feed access for the nation’s animal population and as a source of income for farmers who are not raising animals. Pastoralists are impatient for this program to begin. Its design phase, including the identification of growing sites, has just been completed. I D. Assessment of conditions in agropastoralist areas The only farming activities on the horizon involve growing forage crops. As in January, a number of farming communities in the Senegal River Valley are trying to grow hot off-season irrigated crops in the interval between February and April, but pressure from camel herds is so strong that they are reluctant to proceed, with the government failing to live up to its promise to supply grating to help them protect their crops. Activities in the domestic livestock sector (internal migration from one region of the country to another, sales, trade in animal species, etc.) are slowing as pastoralists find it increasingly difficult to access animal feed. In certain remote stock-raising areas of the country lying at large distances from any major trade centers, a 70 kg sack of “rakkal” (the most popular animal feed) is selling for more than 9,000 UM. Milk vendors are becoming increasingly rare FEWS NET/Mauritania Monthly Report for February 2003 3 with pastoralists in outlying areas concentrating mainly on protecting the health of their animals. I D1. Areas in average condition This category encompasses the same areas as in January. Now that harvests are in and natural conditions rule out the growing of crops anywhere but along the banks of rivers and streams, current assessments of conditions in different areas of the country are based on local access to pasture, water and imported food products (openness). Thus, in the west, this category currently includes areas in close proximity to the Senegal River. In the central part of the country, it includes the few remaining pockets of what were considered to be areas in so-called “good” condition at the end of the rainy season (southeastern Gorgol, central and western Assaba and southern Guidimakha). In the east, it includes Tintane department (in Hodh El Gharbi) and Amourj, Djiguenni and Bassikoumou departments (in Hodh El Chargui), which still have a few remaining pockets of lush pastureland and have thus managed to hold onto a large part of their population of small stock animals. I D2. Areas in poor condition Since both farming and stock-raising activities are dependent on rainfall, outside of the areas referred to in section 1 D1 above, the rest of the country is in poor condition at this time. Under so-called “normal” circumstances, this should not be the case until after the end of April. Aftout, the Senegal River Valley, the central plateau area of Hodh El Chargui and Hodh El Gharbi and slum areas of large cities (Nouakchott, Nouadhibou, Kiffa and Kaëdi) are all still regarded as extremely food-insecure areas. II. FOOD SITUATION AND OUTLOOK The food situation is still steadily deteriorating throughout the Senegal River Valley, Tagant, northern Trarza (Médérdra and Boutilimit departments), Brakna (northern Aleg and Magta- Lahjar departments), Inchiri and southeastern Adrar (Aoujeft) and in urban slum areas. The deterioration in the food situation in Aftout, the central plateau area of Hodh El Chargui and Hodh El Gharbi and the north has been slowed by ongoing distributions of food aid. Nationwide food availability is still good. In contrast, the situation of individual households vulnerable to food insecurity problems is extremely serious. The target population for the government relief program is extremely small and, with the steady upward movement in prices since January of last year, access to commercially sold food products is becoming increasingly difficult for virtually all farm families without a steady, reliable purchasing power. Future food aid programs planned by the LWF could eventually improve food security conditions in Aftout. The only population group still able to sustain itself without food aid is that of sedentary pastoralists raising small stock animals.

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