Seasonal price increases continue to limit poor households' access to food

• As the lean season progresses, poor households in peri-urban, agropastoral, and rain-fed areas are increasingly dependent on markets for their food while prices remain very high. Income opportunities are beginning to improve slightly in agricultural and pastoral areas but remain very limited in urban centers. As a result, most households in the agropastoral, rainfed, and peri-urban areas of Nouakchott and Nouadhibou are in Stress (IPC Phase 2), with some households facing Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes during the lean season.

• Overall, local food prices continue to rise during the lean season. According to the Dispositif National de Prévention et de Réponse aux Crises Alimentaires et Nutritionnelles (DCAN), in the second quarter of 2023 (April to June), local products all saw price increases compared with the previous quarter, respectively +9 percent for local rice, +10 percent for taghalit sorghum, +17 percent for millet, and +1 percent for local maize. Compared with the same period last year, only local and imported rice rose by +12 and +33 percent, respectively, while millet fell by -18 percent, sorghum by -15 percent, local maize by -5 percent, imported wheat by -13 percent, and imported oil by -7 percent. This is in line with year-on-year food inflation trends, which fell from 12 percent in March to 5 percent in June, although average annual food inflation for the period June 2022 to June 2023 remains at 14 percent. 

• In the second quarter of 2023, according to DCAN, livestock prices are also up on the first quarter of 2023, by +17 percent for average mutton and +9 percent for 2-year-old bulls. In the case of mutton, this recent increase is linked to the strong demand for the Tabaski holiday. However, as the price of imported rice also rose this quarter compared with the previous quarter, the sheep-to-rice terms of trade, a measure of the purchasing power of livestock farmers, remained relatively stable (+2 percent). Compared to the corresponding period in 2022, livestock prices rose by +12 percent for sheep and +14 percent for 2-year-old bulls, which did not keep pace with the rise in imported rice prices over the same period. As a result, the terms of trade fell by -20 percent over the year.

• The first significant rains were recorded in the rainfed, agropastoral, and Senegal River valley zones from mid-June, arriving 10 to 20 days early in many of these regions. In addition, rainfall totals to the end of July show large (130-145 percent) to very large (over 145 percent) surpluses in the south of the country, particularly in Guidimaka, southern Gorgol, southern Assaba, southern Hodh El Gharbi and south-western Hodh El Charqui. Although this positive rainfall resulted in sufficient soil moisture, vegetation conditions remained 20-30 percent below normal, particularly in large parts of Hodh El Gharbi and Hodh El Chargui. Nevertheless, the regeneration of pastureland is improving the body conditions of small ruminants, and the start of the wet season in these areas is providing agricultural work opportunities for poor households.

Recommended citation: FEWS NET. Mauritania Key Message Update July 2023: Seasonal price increases continue to limit poor households' access to food, 2023.