Agriculture in Mauritania: problems that prevent self-sufficiency

Salik Zaid-Nouakchott

In the city of Alac, in the Wilayat of Brakna east of the capital Nouakchott, Belkis Mohamed, a southern Mauritanian farmer, attended the launching ceremony of former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, the new agricultural season at the end of last month, during which he announced that the southern agricultural areas would be connected to electricity.

Belkis is one of many farmers who cultivate rice in the southern West Bank, which has land overlooking the Senegal River.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Balqees considered that the cultivation of rice suffers from many problems, which is a stumbling block to the benefit of farmers from their activity, and also prevents the manufacture of self-sufficiency (of rice) for citizens.

But she is optimistic as the government takes steps to meet their needs. "We have always suffered from the inability to deliver water to some areas of our farms. We face problems when harvesting."

The size of agriculture
Rice is the most consumed food in the country, a staple of daily main dishes, and official imports in 2013 amounted to more than 240 thousand tons.

But according to former Minister of Economy and Finance Mokhtar Ould Ajay, the figure has shrunk to 62,000 tonnes last year.

The Ministry of Rural Development confirms that during the agricultural campaign for 2018-2019, the crop of traditional grains reached 106 thousand tons, and was only 60 thousand last year.

Official authorities estimate arable land and irrigation at more than 500,000 hectares, of which 46,000 have been reclaimed so far. The country consumes 300,000 tons of rice annually.

The average price of rice is $ 36 for a bag weighing 50 kilograms, while the price of an imported bag is about $ 44.

Accumulated problems
Belmach Ould Maaloum has been farming in the border town of Rosso on the Senegal River for years, and is one of the farmers who have been challenging for agriculture.

It is considered - in a statement to the island Net - that the country is capable of making self-sufficiency of rice, but still unable to do so.

He says that internal marketing harms the farmer and limits the use of his crop, and gives the opportunity for speculators to earn more, and the harvest mechanisms are difficult to obtain, and prices are high, in addition to the problems of not providing pumps or harvesters at a reasonable price to farmers.

Absence of vegetables
Months ago, a lot of ridicule spread on social media from a statement by former agriculture minister Minna Mint al-Qutb Ould Umam, who said at a news conference that the country had exported a first batch of vegetables to Britain.

Activists on the websites wondered about these vegetables and why they are not offered to the citizen?

Previously, Nouakchott had seen some vegetable prices rise because trucks from Morocco loaded with vegetables could not arrive in time.

Farmer Balqis sees the cultivation of vegetables as possible if some of the land that is still neglected is reclaimed. She adds that some personal experiences have given an important result encouraging the cultivation of vegetables.

Balamash al-Maaloum confirmed this view, saying that growing vegetables proved to be better than rice in terms of the result, but it needs factories and requires a lot of labor.

Unemployed opportunities
Years ago, the state supported the unemployed degree holders to enter agriculture and gave them loans that would be repaid after the end of the agricultural seasons.

The aim was to provide employment opportunities for young people on the one hand, and to help develop the agriculture sector on the other.

The agriculture sector has moved from 27,000 hectares in 2018 to 31,000 this year, former minister Ould Ajay told a previous weekly government press conference, adding that it would develop further in the rest of the year.

Then, in response to the question of Al Jazeera Net - about the state's inability to provide vegetables and make self-sufficiency of rice - certainly that the government can not be planted but provides reclaimed land to investors and businessmen, and said that all sectors have developed, including agriculture.