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Mauritania
Index
The Senegal River Valley, sometimes known as the
Chemama (see Glossary)
or the pre-Sahel, is a narrow belt of land that extends
north of the Senegal River. Before the droughts of the 1960s,
1970s, and 1980s, the belt ranged from sixteen to thirty
kilometers north of the river. By the late 1980s, desertification
had reached the northern bank of the river in some parts of the
valley. The valley is wider in Guidimaka Region and is completely
dominated by the seasonal cycle of the river. Almost all of the
valley's economically active population engages in sedentary
agriculture or fishing along the Senegal River and its main
tributaries--the Karakoro, the Gorgol, and the Garfa. This area
supplies most of the country's agricultural production.
The climate of the Senegal River Valley contrasts with that
of the Saharan and Sahelian zones. Rainfall is higher than in
other regions, ranging from 400 millimeters to 600 millimeters
annually, usually between May and September. This rainfall,
combined with annual flooding of the river, provides the basis
for agriculture. Temperatures are cooler and subject to less
annual and diurnal variation than in other regions.
The Senegal is the only permanent river between southern
Morocco and central Senegal. From its source in Guinea, it flows
north and west 2,500 kilometers, reaching the Atlantic Ocean at
Saint Louis, Senegal. From its mouth, the river is navigable as
far as Kayes, Mali, during the rainy season and Podor, Senegal,
during the rest of the year. Heavy rains, beginning in April in
Guinea and May and June in Senegal and Mali, bring annual floods.
These floods cover the entire valley up to a width of twenty-five
to thirty-five kilometers, filling numerous lakes and sloughs
(marigots) that empty back into the river during the dry
season. When the waters recede from the bottomlands, planting
begins.
The Senegal River Valley, with its rich alluvial and clayey
soil, is comparatively abundant in flora. Moreover, higher
rainfall, irrigation, and abundant side channels and sloughs tend
to produce a lush, near-tropical vegetation, with baobab and
gonakie trees and abundant rich grasses. Ddounm and
barussus palms are also found here. Much of the flood
plain is cultivated.
Data as of June 1988
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