Agricultural products can become more marketable if they are processed. For example when farmers process milk to produce cheese or butter, or when they clean and package vegetables, they are able to sell their produce at a higher price. This chain of activities is known as a value chain.

The Value Chains Development Programme for Poverty Reduction will develop the value chains of vegetables, dates, milk, poultry, skins and hides, red meat and non-timber forest products. The value added to these goods will enable poor rural people to realize the market potential and to reduce their poverty.

This programme which aims to support economic growth in Mauritania comes at an important time in the country’s development. Population projections show that by 2010 two thirds of the country’s population will live in urban areas. The capital, Nouakchott, is already a major consumer of agricultural products, most of which are imported. And because food prices are rising, there are important economic reasons for substituting some of these imports with goods produced in the country.

The agricultural goods and food chains the programme targets involve poor rural women and men as key players. In particular, the programme will support women, young people and men living in the rural dry areas of Adrar, Assaba, Brakna, Gorgol, Guidimaka, Hodh Ech Chargui, Hodh El Gharbi, Tagant and Trarza, and who are already involved in the production of goods in these value chains.

An increase in national production will, in turn, help reduce Mauritania’s reliance on food imports. As a result, the country will also become less vulnerable to increases in the price of these imports. Although Mauritanians have always been traders and are aware of market issues, the value chain development approach promoted by this programme is a major innovation in the country. It foresees that all actors in the chains – public sector, private sector, and civil society, for example – will come together to discuss how to develop and implement strategies, activities, price and tax regulations.

People involved in the programme will be encouraged to network and to share knowledge and experiences with peers in other similar projects in countries such as Burkina Faso and Senegal.

Source: IFAD