Intermittent droughts have forced a large percentage of Mauritania's rural population to abandon its traditional nomadic way of life and move to the larger towns and cities. The urban areas are unable to cope economically or structurally with this influx. The result is insufficient health and sanitation facilities, a reduction in agricultural productivity, and high unemployment. Peace Corps Volunteers are working at the grassroots level to address these issues and train local counterparts to find appropriate solutions.

Agriculture

Volunteers are part of an integrated development effort to improve agricultural and forestry practices throughout rural Mauritania. Volunteers work to improve the capacity of local farmers in selected oases and villages to produce nutritious food, for consumption and income generation. Volunteers and farmers work together to protect garden sites, villages, and oases against sand encroachment and natural degradation.

Business Development

Volunteers transfer basic business skills to micro-entrepreneurs in Mauritania's informal economic sector to strengthen skills in planning, financial management, marketing, and profitability. These skills increase entrepreneurs' access to credit, allowing them to create new businesses or expand existing ones. In addition, Volunteers are assigned to technical institutions to assist with computer literacy and the use of information technology in business practices. Through a variety of activities, Volunteers provide capacity building among women, youth, community-based organizations, and local non-governmental organizations. Volunteers also play a key role in expanding Mauritania's gender and development initiative.

Health

Volunteers strive to improve the health of the rural population by providing communities with the necessary analytical and technical skills to reduce the incidence of water-borne and hygiene-related diseases such as malaria and dysentery. Specific projects include constructing and maintaining public water and waste-elimination systems, training village-based health agents, and promoting community health education in the areas of HIV/AIDS awareness, Guinea worm eradication, and nutrition. By installing water pumps on wells and nearby rivers, communities can increase access to potable water and reduce the incidence of water-borne diseases. All Volunteers address HIV/AIDS awareness as part of their projects.

Education

The education project strengthens learning, teaching and service to secondary schools and helps to build capacity by providing boys and girls with quality instruction in English. The project also entails peer coaching Mauritanian teachers of English as they build skills to be more qualified, creative, and effective in a work environment with few resources to support them. Volunteers help develop resources to strengthen links between schools and parent associations, encourage strong participation by parents, and advocate for the education of all children.