Press release number: IFAD 17/04

Rome, Monday, 22 March 2004 – A new, eight-year programme in Mauritania will help about 250 000 people living in remote desert areas improve their access to social and financial services, and increase their agricultural production and income.

The USD 33.9 million programme will be financed partly by a USD 11.4 million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. The loan agreement was signed today at IFAD Headquarters by Mauritania’s Ambassador in Rome, Hamoud Ould Ely, and IFAD Vice President Cyril Enweze.

The project will target people living in fertile areas of the desert, where there are permanent supplies of fresh water. These areas, known as “oases”, are critical to food production and trade in Mauritania and home to about two-thirds of the Saharan population. Still, farmers and nomadic herdspeople living in oases often struggle with isolation and harsh environments. Over the past 30 years, recurring droughts have reduced arable land and water sources. Sand dunes have encroached on a number of oases, and the Bayoudh disease has infected many date palms – a primary source of income for oasis communities. Most people living in oases are poor and do not have adequate access to social services, like healthcare and education, markets or financial services. Gender inequalities make women particularly vulnerable. About 30 percent of the region’s households are headed by women, putting these families at an even greater disadvantage.

The IFAD-supported programme will focus on working with local institutions, including community organizations, women’s associations, youth groups, decentralized financial institutions and rural communes, to help strengthen their roles in oasis communities. The programme will also provide support to help boost production levels and encourage sustainable agricultural practices in oases. Farmers and herdspeople will learn improved techniques for managing water and other natural resources and ways to alleviate market-access problems. Communities will also receive support to develop basic social and economic infrastructure, such as rural roads, water works, and educational and health facilities.

“With better market access and marketing skills, farmers will be motivated to diversify and intensify production,” explains Mohamed Ben-Senia, IFAD’s Country Portfolio Manager for Mauritania.

The programme’s work with local institutions will particularly benefit oasis communities by allowing residents to become directly involved in the implementation process. Assistance will be prioritized to meet the specific needs of local people, particularly women and youth, and built upon an exit strategy in which local institutions and other civil society organizations will take over the technical, managerial and financial responsibilities of development after the programme’s end.

With this loan, IFAD will have financed 11 projects in Mauritania, totaling over USD 85 million. This is the third IFAD operation to be covered by the country’s poverty reduction strategy, and the second co-financed by the Mauritanian government as a form of debt relief under the enhanced HIPC initiative.

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IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to combating rural poverty in the most disadvantaged regions of the world. Since 1978, IFAD has invested USD 8.1 billion in 653 rural development projects and programme in 115 countries and territories. Through these projects and programmes, about 250 million rural people have been supported in their efforts to overcome poverty.