This will hurt Algeria! Mauritania on the move which best manages its dams and its agriculture to achieve self-sufficiency and food sovereignty on the basis of solid and sustainable foundations

This article was automatically translated from HIBAPRESS, the Arabic version:

HIBAPRESS-RABAT-AMI

The Mauritanian Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Mr. Ould Beibatte, accompanied by the wali of Hodh El Gharbi, Mr. Ahmeda Mamadou Kelly, visited, this week, several agricultural sites in the moughataa of Tamchekett.

The visit, which is part of monitoring the current seasonal agricultural campaign, concerned the Legrayer dam and several market gardening sites in the Tamechekett and Aioun moughataas.

At the Legrayer dam, the minister was informed of the progress of the pilot program for planting fruit trees launched in 2022 as part of an agreement between the Directorate of Rural Development and the National Center for Research and agricultural development for the exploitation of water from four dams, including the Legrayer dam.

This five-hectare project allowed the planting of 248 mango trees, 102 lemon trees, 187 Indian cedars and 63 pomegranate trees, as well as the allocation of additional areas for the cultivation of vegetables and legumes.

The site, which will bring tangible benefits to local communities and improve their resilience to agricultural challenges, is supported by a 3.5 hectare irrigation network.

Improvements to the site will contribute to the sustainable management of natural resources, increased agricultural productivity and increased resilience of local communities to climate change.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty inspected some of the agricultural crops such as traditional cereals including ‘taqalit’, ‘bachna’, ‘maize’ and ‘beans’ which are grown on 120 hectares by 10 villages in this area whose population is estimated at 2,500 people.

In a statement to the Mauritanian Information Agency, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty indicated that this visit is part of the monitoring of the rainfed agricultural campaign for the season (2024-2025) and of the preparation of the market gardening campaign, noting that the models he visited of market gardening sites suggest the achievement of satisfactory results in terms of increase in expected production.

He said he has seen great demand from farmers and some private investors for the cultivation of this material, which is expected to reach the local and national market in the required quantities during the holy month of Ramadan.

He added that this visit was an opportunity to follow the implementation of the sector strategy in accordance with the instructions of the President of the Republic, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, and to reiterate his calls for the importance of agriculture rainfed by exploiting all available resources to achieve self-sufficiency and food sovereignty on the basis of solid and sustainable foundations