ALERT LEVEL: MAURITANIA NO ALERT Monthly Food Security Update WATCH WARNING May 2006 EMERGENCY CONTENTS Summary and implications Summary and implications ....1 Conditions in livestock-raising All households in farming areas and large numbers of households in agropastoral areas dependent on areas .....................................1 farming as their main livelihood are having a hard time coping with this year’s lean period, which began prematurely (2 to 3 months earlier than usual). In fact, it is becoming increasingly apparent Recap of threats....................2 that most households, particularly in rainfed farming areas (zone 6), the River Valley (zone 7), the Food security conditions........2 western reaches of the agropastoral belt (zone 5) and the north (zone 2), are dealing with three or Food security and livelihoods 2 four consecutive years of accrued production deficits, set against the backdrop of a steady Recommendations ................3 deterioration in terms of trade for their products and in their purchasing power. Most small-scale, local, seasonal harvests are going towards paying off food debts incurred during the course of last year’s and previous lean periods. Although harvests of flood-recession crops (in lowland and dam areas) are still two months off, there is no locally grown sorghum available in a number of crop-producing areas of Aftout (in Maghta Lahjar and Monguel Departments). Domestic grain trade has fallen off and the only locally grown sorghum crops for sale are in markets in urban population centers in the vicinity of crop-producing areas. Traders have bought up all available small supplies of sorghum (in Inchiri, western Aftout) and unit prices (prices per “moud”) are above the 450 UM mark in all parts of the country and, in some locations, as high as 800 UM. As was the case in April, coarse grain imports from Mali and Senegal are still sluggish, driving up the price of rainfed sorghum (by 20 UM from April) and leveling off the price of flood-recession sorghum. In contrast, despite customs surveillance on both sides of the border, there is a flourishing rice trade, which has driven the price of locally available Asian rice down slightly (by 10 UM from the month of March), but only in markets in Nouakchott and in departmental capitals. Markets around the country have ample supplies of imported grain, except in remote areas of Inchiri and Adrar, but the steady rise in prices is curtailing household grain access. Out-migration is picking up with high-level surveillance by the forestry service limiting informal local sources of income (sales of wood, charcoal and straw). Conditions in livestock-raising areas Livelihood zones Conditions in migratory herding areas (zone 4) and the southern reaches of zones 5 and 6 are still satisfactory. In contrast, water access problems in zone 2 and the northern reaches of zone 5 are limiting utilization of the plentiful pasture resources found in these areas and forcing migratory pastoralists to move forward their date of departure. Prices for small animals rose sharply, particularly during the second dekad of the month, with current price figures up by anywhere from 7 to 15% from April, depending on the area. Despite plentiful supplies, the explanation for this rise seems to lie price hikes for commercially marketed foodstuffs and the beginning of the rains in the east (in Mali and southeastern Mauritania). There has been no change in the food security situation for cattle and camel herders, who have been able to keep food price hikes in check thanks to the rise in prices for their animals (which are up 12% from April). There is still no change in the food security situation for poor households with limited, sporadic incomes, living in the fringe areas of rural seats of government and large cities forced to take in migrants from the countryside. FEWS NET/Mauritania TEL : (222) 525 39 10 c/o US Embassy FEWS NET is funded by the US Agency for International Development TEL et FAX : (222) 525 39 18 BP: 222, Nouakchott www.fews.net E-mail: [email protected] Mauritania Mauritania: MONTHLY FOOD SECURITY UPDATE MAY 2006 Recap of threats • The rise in prices for commercially marketed grain crops is affecting all types of households, regardless of their livelihood profile. The hike in road transportation costs in the wake of the rise in fuel prices (with the price of a liter of diesel oil jumping from 217.2 to 247 UM) has heightened the effects of the tacit monopoly of rice, oil and sugar imports. While households are still able to feed themselves, their sources of food access have shifted, with purchasing giving way to borrowing (in some cases, at usurious interest rates). • The grain trade traditionally relied on by households in border areas is still sluggish and the small quantities of crops collected are being appropriated by traders from large cities. It is easier to find Malian sorghum in Nouakchott than in Djiguenni. • Water access problems are affecting residents of Aftout and the southeastern part of the country (the northeastern reaches of zone 6 and the eastern part of zone 5), as well as pastoralists in the north (zone 2) and west (zone 4). Food security conditions We could see a steady improvement in household food Figure 1. Trends in the terms of trade in agropastoral areas access for pastoralists if the current upward trend in (M’Bidéne) and the River Valley (Aéré M’Bar): Number of kilograms prices for livestock does not reverse itself. Trends in of rice brought in by the sale of an average sheep price ratios for rice versus an average sheep are working in their favor, particularly with the leveling off of rice prices (see Figure 1). 120 Distributions of free food aid by the CSA (the Food 100 Security Commission) and the successful start-up of Food for Work (FFW) and Village-Level Food Security Reserve (SAVS) projects under the Protracted Relief 80 and Recovery Operation (PRRO) have slightly improved food security conditions for the 11,735 e c i households targeted by these activities (35,000 r 60 households under the WFP operation and 76,735 households served by the CSA). As things currently Kg stand, the World Food Program’s PRRO for 2006 is 40 reporting an 8,000 MT shortage (of all foodstuffs combined) and ongoing operations could come to a halt sometime in June or July unless additional donations 20 are received between now and then. Food security for farming households is steadily 0 deteriorating. The sole driver of food access in these 5/05 1/06 2/06 3/06 5/06 areas is the level of household purchasing and bartering or borrowing power. Sales of livestock are slowing M'BIDENE (ZONE 5), GORGOL AIRE M'BAR (ZONE 7), BRAKNA with many households having already reduced the size of their herds to a minimum and, in some cases, having even sold off some breeding animals. These households Source: FEWS NET Mauritania continue to rely on local markets whose operating mechanisms are more in line with their purchasing power. This year’s lean period is hitting farm families in oasis and flood-recession farming areas in the north especially hard. The negative effects of the sharp rollback in their earnings from sales of dates (in the third quarter of 2005) and vegetable crops (in the first quarter of this year) have been further compounded by the breaking-off of trade with grain-farming areas in the central (Aftout) and southern part of the country (southern Hodh El Chargui and Hodh El Gharbi, Assaba, Gorgol and Brakna). Alternative products (wheat and rice) are being sold at high prices due to the remoteness of these areas. For example, the same kilogram of wheat selling for 100 UM in Atar costs 140 UM in Aoujeft, 150 in Mahden and Medhah in southwestern Aoujeft and 170 UM in Ouz Levrass in the eastern reaches of Chinguitti Department. Poor food access is beginning to Table 1. Interim surveys of malnutrition levels in Adrar translate into rather high levels DEPARTMENT SITE RED YELLOW GREEN TOTAL of malnutrition, particularly AOUJEFT MAHDEN 10 46 71 127 among children. Nutrition surveys conducted to date are ATAR CHOUM 6 33 22 61 showing fairly high rates of Source: CSA (Food Security Commission) - Adrar malnutrition (see Table 1). 2 Mauritania: MONTHLY FOOD SECURITY UPDATE MAY 2006 Many households are being forced to resort to borrowing (Figure 2) Figure 2. Realignment of food access mechanisms in oasis, pastoral and wadi bed areas (zone 2) 1) Shifts in sources of food access for farm families in Bouchwera (Adrar) |< Normal Context >|< May 2006 >| 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% Migrant income Cash gifts / income Loans 50% Purchases Employment income payed in cash Payment in kind for farmwork 40% Animal Production Crop Production 30% 20% 10% 0% Poor Middle Income Well Off Poor Middle Income Well Off Households Households Households Households Households Households 2) Shifts in sources of food access for households in oasis areas of Meherez (Adrar) |< Normal Context >|< May 2006 >| 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% Migrant income Cash gifts / income Loans 50% Purchases Employment income payed in cash Payment in kind for farmwork 40% Animal Production Crop Production 30% 20% 10% 0% Poor Middle Income Well Off Poor Middle Income Well Off Households Households Households Households Households Households Source: FEWS NET Mauritania Recommendations 1. Develop assistance measures to temper the effects of spiraling prices. 2. Facilitate cross-border trade to enable local residents to fall back on one of the lynchpins of their coping strategy for managing food insecurity problems. 3. Expand SAVS (village-level food security reserve) programs and tailor corresponding operating procedures to the food access of program recipients.