Mauritania

MAURITANIA is a West African country bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Two-thirds of the land area of 1 million km² is desert. Most of the population of 2.6 million lives in the southwest where the Senegal River provides water for irrigation. Agriculture contributes 25% of the GDP. Arable land is almost zero, but fishing and livestock activities are the main agricultural activities.

General information

• GNI per capita PPP$, 2000: 1,630
• Internal renewable water resources: 0.4 km³
• Incoming water flow: 11.4 km³
• Main food consumed: wheat, rice, sugar and honey, fruits, roots and tubers
• Rice consumption, 1999: 62.4 kg milled rice per person per year

Production constraints
There are several constraints to sustainable rice production in Mauritania:

• Heat-induced sterility during the off-season in irrigated areas
• Saline soils
• Cold-induced sterility in December
• Poor maintenance of irrigation facilities
• Poor drainage in irrigated schemes
• High production costs
• Inadequate and irregular input supplies:
  seeds, fertilizer, and credit
• Lack of small farm equipment, especially
  for postharvest operations
• Lack of effective farmers’ organizations and
  cooperatives
• Competition for labor by other production
  activities
• Lack of a well-defined rice policy
• Poor road networks and marketing systems
• Weak research and extension support

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