The majority of the population of Mauritania live a precarious existence, with two-thirds surviving on less than $2 a day. Most live in the dry narrow band between the Sahara and the Senegal River, and are dependant on the small amount of rain that falls between July and October each year. Since the 1970s, Mauritania has been struck by recurrent droughts, which have made life increasingly difficult for people living in rural areas, and forced many to migrate to the cities.

Oxfam in Mauritania

Oxfam started working in Mauritania in 1983, helping people in the south to cope with droughts. During a severe drought in 2002, we provided emergency food aid to tens of thousands of families. Following this crisis, we are continuing to help people across southern Mauritania to rebuild their assets, and to prepare for hard times in the future. We are also helping people to have a greater say in the decisions that affect their lives.

Saving lives in emergencies

Rainfall in Mauritania is becoming increasingly unreliable, making people in rural areas more likely to fall into crisis. Since 2002, we have helped people to survive when the rains fail or their plants are destroyed by locusts.

To help people to meet their immediate needs when they do not have enough to survive, we distribute emergency food for people and their animals. We also support people in ways that help them cope with future hard times. In our ‘food-for-work’ and ‘cash-for-work’ projects, we employ people to build fences or dams for their own communities. In addition, we also buy weakened animals at prices above market rates, in order to give farmers an income that they can use to feed their other animals.

Supporting rural communities

As well as helping people get through hard times, we work with them to develop their communities, so that they are better prepared for challenges in the future. We are doing this throughout the Aftout and Affolé regions, by supporting rural development projects.

The greatest everyday difficulty in rural Mauritania is getting enough water. Women and children often have to spend all day walking to collect water for their families. Oxfam is installing and repairing wells, and building dams throughout these regions, to make it easier for tens of thousands of people to get the water they desperately need.

We are also helping people to be able to provide the food they need. After the dry season, when many animals die or have to be sold, we give goats to the poorest families, in order to ensure that they have a source of income for the future. By training vets who travel between remote villages, we also help farmers to look after the health of their animals. In addition, we provide seeds and fences, which allow villagers to grow vegetables and cereals.

To help people break out of the cycle of poverty, we are supporting agencies that give small loans to groups of women, who would not normally be able to get credit. The women use these loans for moneymaking activities like small trading, growing vegetables, and  making handicrafts.

Developing youth organisations

We are supporting two partner organisations to help young people in the capital, Nouakchott, and in Rosso, a city in the south, to take decisions about their own lives. By training young people in practical skills like hairdressing, yoghurt-making, and using computers, and by helping them to take part in planning public works activities, we are increasing their involvement in community life.

Promoting women's rights

We run training sessions with our partner organisations, and public meetings in rural communities, in order to raise awareness of the particular challenges facing women in Mauritania, and to discuss ways of addressing their needs

Last updated: October 06