Environmental issues and peri-urban agriculture in Mauritania.

After describing the current situation in Mauritania and the challenges the government faces in securing food supplies, the authors analyse current agricultural production in urban and peri-urban zones (particularly in the kebbas of Nouakchott). They attempt to identify the reasons for its development (current market liberalization measures, withdrawal of input subsidies, move away from rice growing, etc.). They observe that its success is closely linked to the advantages offered by fast-growing crops, which enable almost year-round production, facilitating a reduction in malnutrition and guaranteeing an additional source of income for many unemployed people in the suburbs. Thus, despite the clear lack of water, many town-dwellers persist in growing fruit and vegetables, rearing goats and chickens, producing milk, etc., under extreme climatic conditions. The authors also analyse the environmental impact of peri-urban crops: they apparently increase soil physical yields, contribute to controlling the spread of the desert, enable recycling of "treated" waste water and facilitate the use of household rubbish. In short, they apparently help to improve hygiene in urban areas, whilst protecting the countryside. High added value products such as fruit and vegetables have a key role to play in supplying towns, where almost 80% of the country's total population now lives. The government's main task is to draw up (and implement) legislation to defend the interests of peri-urban farmers, to address the issue of land ownership rights, of the use of waste water and household rubbish. Town plans that take account of agricultural factors in both their design and application are therefore essential.