Mauritania

Mauritania country profile

BACKGROUND

Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a large country in Northwest Africa. It is a large country, with three-quarters of the county in the Sahara and the remaining quarter in the Sahel. It is invariably affected by desertification. It has a hot, dry, and windy climate. There is very little precipitation throughout the year, but the southern region in the Sahel has a wet season which is affected by the movement of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).#

Although Mauritania has made improvements in reducing poverty, approximately 22% of people still live in poverty (WFP). A majority of Mauritania’s poorest live in rural areas and rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. The reliance on subsistence based agricultural production, means a large portion of people are vulnerable to drought, floods, and desert locust invasions. Climate change is expected to intensify soil erosion, desertification, heat waves, and rainfall variability which will in turn increase the severity of enviroenemntal hazards.

INFORM RISK INDEX (2022)    

Hazard and exposure: 3.2  |  Vulnerability: 5.6  |  Lack of coping capacity: 6.5 |  Total: 4.9 (medium)  |  Rank: 42

HAZARDS COVERED BY ANTICIPATION    

Drought | Insect infestation (Desert locust)

EXPERIENCE ON ANTICIPATION 

• The Mauritania Red Cross is developing an Early Action Protocol (EAP) with the support of the French Red Cross and British Red Cross in anticipation of drought impacts.
• In 2020, FAO acted in advance of an infestation of desert locusts across West Africa and the Sahel. Ground and aerial surveying, community sensitization, biopesticides, and capacity training for locust officers was provided in Mauritania.