Mauritania

Villagers gather beneath a roof in Abdoulae Diarra village.

USAID/Terry Wollen

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, USAID has responded to two disasters in Mauritania—food insecurity triggered by below-average agricultural yields and pasture conditions and a complex emergency resulting from an influx of refugees from Mali.

USG HUMANITARIAN FUNDING PROVIDED IN FY 2012

*This figure includes funding for both disaster response and disaster risk reduction activities. (As of September 14, 2012)

Sahel Food Insecurity and Complex Emergency Fact Sheet #16 (417kb PDF) and map (208kb PDF)

USAID/DCHA Pounds of Prevention - West Africa (278kb PDF)

Key Developments

In Mauritania, the drought and nutrition crisis is affecting nearly one-fourth of the population, while an estimated 89,000 Malian refugees—the largest population in a neighboring country—are further straining resources in the southeast.

Poor rains in 2011 led to below-average agricultural yields and pasture conditions for livestock in most of Mauritania, particularly in the central, south, and southeastern regions.  The hunger season, which normally ends with the September harvest, continued in most rural areas, forcing many food-insecure people to engage in negative coping strategies and earlier migration to other regions or countries in search of labor opportunities. Rising food prices further affected household food security. In addition, pastoralists began seasonal herd migration several months earlier than usual. The 2011 grain production shortfall resulted not only in food insecurity, but also a lack of seed stock for the 2012 planting season. Surveys indicated high levels of global acute malnutrition in five regions heavily affected by lack of rain.

On December 8, 2011, U.S. Ambassador Jo Ellen Powell declared a disaster due to the effects of food insecurity in Mauritania.  In September 2011, USAID/OFDA staff travelled to Mauritania to assess humanitarian conditions and needs.

In addition, fighting in northern Mali that commenced in January 2012 displaced refugees to already food-insecure areas in eastern Mauritania.  The displacement exacerbated food insecurity and strained host communities’ limited resources, particularly water and sanitation services.

On April 12, 2012, U.S. Ambassador Jo Ellen Powell declared a disaster due to the complex emergency.  In response, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) provided $50,000 through the U.S. Embassy in Nouakchott to the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to address water and sanitation needs of Mauritanian host communities. 

Members of a USAID/OFDA Sahel Assessment Team and staff from the U.S. Embassy in Nouakchott visited affected areas in eastern Mauritania, where they met with refugee camp leaders and relief agency staff, evaluated the camp’s installations and services, and visited villages in the surrounding area. 

In response, USAID/OFDA and USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) have worked to meet emergency needs of populations hosting Malian refugees, while also supporting nutrition, food security, livestock, and water and sanitation interventions that strengthen capacity in other food-insecure regions of Mauritania.  USAID-supported activities include distributing seeds and emergency food assistance, providing cash vouchers and temporary employment opportunities, strengthening existing acute malnutrition treatment programs, increasing access to safe drinking water, and improving humanitarian access to vulnerable populations in eastern Mauritania, including refugees and host families.