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Mauritania
Index
Millet and sorghum were Mauritania's principal crops,
followed by rice and corn. Before the 1980s, millet and sorghum
accounted for 70 to 80 percent or more of total grain production.
Rice production in the 1970s averaged 5 to 10 percent, and corn
made up 10 to 25 percent. In the 1980s, rice production grew in
importance, as national planning emphasized irrigated agriculture
(which favored rice) and a change in dietary habits.
A few other crops were cultivated. Around 10,000 to 15,000
tons of dates were produced annually in the country's oases,
mostly for local consumption. During the 1960s, the traditional
production of
gum arabic (see Glossary)
rose to some 5,000 tons a
year. By the 1980s, however, production of gum arabic had
disappeared. The ill-considered cutting of trees to increase
short-term production combined with drought to destroy virtually
all of Mauritania's gum-producing acacia trees.
By 1986 farmers working irrigated lands produced about 35
percent of the country's grain crops. Of a potentially irrigable
area estimated at 135,000 hectares, only some 13,700 hectares
were in production in 1985-86. Most of the irrigated land (about
65 percent) was in large-scale developments (500 hectares or
more) centered in Bogué and Kaédi, which were controlled by the
government through the National Corporation for Rural Development
(Société Nationale pour le Développement Rural--SONADER). The
remainder were small-scale operations (less than fifty hectares),
developed by a newly active private sector centered mainly in
Rosso.
In the 1980s, the government put increased emphasis on
developing the rural sector. Government planning strategy under
the 1985-88 Economic Recovery Program placed the highest priority
on rural development (35 percent of planned investments).
Particular attention was to be paid to upgrading existing land
and developing new irrigated farming and flood recession
agriculture. There were also plans involving Mauritania, Mali,
and Senegal to integrate rural development and water and flood
control through the Senegal River Development Office
(Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Sénégal--OMVS) as
the massive Diama and Manantali dams became fully operational
(see Relations with Other African States
, ch. 4).
Data as of June 1988
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