FAMINE EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS NETWORK MAURITANIA A USAID project managed by Chemonics International Inc. TEL: (222) 25 39 18 FAX: (222) 25 39 18 E-mail:
[email protected] MONTHLY REPORT FOR JANUARY 2002 RAPPORT MENSUEL DU MOIS DE JANVIER 2002 This report covers the period from December 20, 2001 to January 22, 2002 Summary Winter rains in Trarza, Brakna, and Gorgol Regions (Wilaya) are responsible for sizeable losses of livestock and crops and have claimed a number of lives. Rotting grasses and plants and losses of small stock animals are forcing herders to hasten the start of their seasonal treks, particularly in areas where conditions were already unstable (in Mederdra and northern R’Kiz Districts (Moughataa). The dispersion of animals escaping the untimely rains is expected to further heighten the sudden, erratic migratory movements reported during December in areas affected by brush fires but spared by the January rains. The only grasslands still in good condition are in Hodh El Chargui, Hodh El Gharbi, and eastern Assaba Regions. There are still no sightings of locusts. Despite ongoing harvests, paddy rice and sorghum prices are soaring. Prices in farming areas of the country such as Selibaby in Guidimakha (120 UM per kg of sorghum) and Bababé in Brakna (125 UM per kg) have reached highs that the country has not seen since the 1972 crisis. Ongoing harvests of irrigated crops and the consumption of flood-recession crops (crops grown on river banks and in bottomlands and "walo" crops grown along the Senegal River) have helped postpone any deterioration in the food security of households growing rainfed millet and watermelon crops.