The Fort Worth Press - Climate change threatens age-old Mauritania date harvest

USD -
AED 3.673012
AFN 65.000064
ALL 91.150178
AMD 387.469871
ANG 1.801827
AOA 911.500068
ARS 980.759102
AUD 1.49243
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.702436
BAM 1.799802
BBD 2.018635
BDT 119.474544
BGN 1.80581
BHD 0.376965
BIF 2893.5
BMD 1
BND 1.31272
BOB 6.908229
BRL 5.653299
BSD 0.999747
BTN 84.049233
BWP 13.383946
BYN 3.271263
BYR 19600
BZD 2.01523
CAD 1.37968
CDF 2844.999961
CHF 0.866135
CLF 0.034299
CLP 946.409792
CNY 7.124104
CNH 7.137155
COP 4252.75
CRC 514.321209
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 102.250496
CZK 23.305009
DJF 177.719989
DKK 6.887697
DOP 60.359891
DZD 133.731033
EGP 48.627802
ERN 15
ETB 118.496125
EUR 0.92341
FJD 2.257398
FKP 0.765169
GBP 0.76822
GEL 2.720021
GGP 0.765169
GHS 16.050149
GIP 0.765169
GMD 69.501691
GNF 8635.000052
GTQ 7.730002
GYD 209.050544
HKD 7.773545
HNL 25.090514
HRK 6.88903
HTG 131.62169
HUF 369.666498
IDR 15532
ILS 3.72729
IMP 0.765169
INR 84.05015
IQD 1310
IRR 42102.464817
ISK 137.650297
JEP 0.765169
JMD 158.667495
JOD 0.708901
JPY 150.052015
KES 129.000314
KGS 85.496248
KHR 4060.000484
KMF 454.850271
KPW 899.999774
KRW 1371.000206
KWD 0.30661
KYD 0.833184
KZT 487.505464
LAK 21915.00041
LBP 89549.999981
LKR 292.783031
LRD 192.24965
LSL 17.690014
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.805044
MAD 9.909456
MDL 17.740355
MGA 4584.999699
MKD 56.838177
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3398.000028
MOP 8.005613
MRU 39.750253
MUR 46.390249
MVR 15.359923
MWK 1735.000352
MXN 19.82238
MYR 4.311502
MZN 63.904979
NAD 17.689865
NGN 1634.810338
NIO 36.749973
NOK 10.919745
NPR 134.47903
NZD 1.650165
OMR 0.384997
PAB 0.999747
PEN 3.76825
PGK 3.913022
PHP 57.804942
PKR 277.725029
PLN 3.978227
PYG 7854.234247
QAR 3.640502
RON 4.593301
RSD 108.034979
RUB 97.401337
RWF 1350
SAR 3.756014
SBD 8.340864
SCR 13.763998
SDG 601.492693
SEK 10.545703
SGD 1.31405
SHP 0.765169
SLE 22.619776
SLL 20969.496802
SOS 570.999946
SRD 32.745499
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.747786
SYP 2512.530268
SZL 17.684982
THB 33.197982
TJS 10.642464
TMT 3.5
TND 3.09525
TOP 2.342098
TRY 34.205935
TTD 6.787678
TWD 32.084703
TZS 2725.000128
UAH 41.218304
UGX 3672.671222
UYU 41.695999
UZS 12825.000177
VEF 3622552.534434
VES 39.085783
VND 25195
VUV 118.722039
WST 2.801184
XAF 603.636782
XAG 0.031467
XAU 0.000371
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.747142
XOF 603.50203
XPF 110.601551
YER 250.375007
ZAR 17.666735
ZMK 9001.203045
ZMW 26.618814
ZWL 321.999592
  • SCS

    0.0700

    13.21

    +0.53%

  • NGG

    -0.9500

    67.19

    -1.41%

  • RBGPF

    0.4200

    60.92

    +0.69%

  • RELX

    0.4400

    48.59

    +0.91%

  • GSK

    -0.2500

    38.96

    -0.64%

  • AZN

    -0.2900

    78.02

    -0.37%

  • BCC

    -4.8000

    142.2

    -3.38%

  • RIO

    -0.8600

    65.09

    -1.32%

  • BTI

    -0.4300

    35.37

    -1.22%

  • CMSC

    -0.1300

    24.79

    -0.52%

  • CMSD

    -0.1300

    25.02

    -0.52%

  • RYCEF

    0.0500

    7.4

    +0.68%

  • BCE

    0.0100

    33.49

    +0.03%

  • BP

    0.3900

    31.32

    +1.25%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.15

    -0.15%

  • VOD

    -0.1200

    9.73

    -1.23%

Climate change threatens age-old Mauritania date harvest
Climate change threatens age-old Mauritania date harvest / Photo: © AFP

Climate change threatens age-old Mauritania date harvest

Wandering atop a small sand dune in central Mauritania, Aliene Haimoud gazed despondently at the yellowing date palms before him –- the trees are dying if they are not already dead.

Text size:

The advance of the desert is striking in the oasis village of Azougui, some 450 kilometres (280 miles) northeast of Nouakchott, the West African state's capital.

Despite the ever-encroaching sand which is gradually swallowing up the trees, residents here are preparing for the Guetna -– the annual date harvest.

The popular event is rooted in a long nomadic tradition and involves large family celebrations centred around the small, sweet fruit -- the region's main source of income.

"You go from 10 to 1,000 friends," one local said cheerfully.

But when a palm tree dies, a little of the life in each village is extinguished.

"Because of the sand, people are forced to settle elsewhere, because here there can be no more harvests," said Haimoud, president of the local cooperative association.

Nearly 20,000 palm trees have perished since the 1980s and his village is becoming emptier every year, he said.

Like other countries in Western Africa and the Sahel region, Mauritania is on the front lines of climate change.

Temperatures in the region are rising 1.5 times faster than the global average, while rainfall is erratic and wet seasons are decreasing, according to a 2022 report from the UN Human Rights Office.

In Mauritania, the government has tried to halt the desertification by planting trees to repel the onslaught of sand.

But the chosen prosopis variety has caused the soil to dry out even more, further exacerbating the palm trees' fragility.

Around 70 kilometres further south, the green oasis of M'Heiret has also been decimated.

Some 6,000 palm trees, already weakened by years of drought, were swept away two years ago by the massive flooding of a wadi -- a stream that forms during the rainy season.

The trees now lie in the riverbed, which is completely dry at this time of year.

"This place used to be full of palm trees," said Amou Dehah, who was mayor of the village at the time.

"Their owners are still here, but there's nothing left for them," he added.

- 'Only source of income' -

"If there are no more palm trees, there is no more work. If there's no work, there's no money," Dehah said.

"We need to find a solution. If we don't, people will go and live elsewhere, because this is our only source of income," he added.

Beside him, 56-year-old Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Brihm said he was worried about his 50 palm trees which are planted close to the wadi and have been passed down through generations.

"Of course, I'm afraid of losing everything. I'm even afraid that my house will be destroyed," he said.

The residents of M'Heiret, which is renowned for its quality and variety of dates, have called for the construction of a dam which they say would act as a buffer against future downpours and create favourable growing conditions.

"The dam is the best solution," said Houdy Sidina, professor of biology and agronomy at the University of Nouakchott.

"It helps to combat drought, irrigate palm trees and prevent flooding," he added.

Sidina referred to the region's Seguelil Dam, which was inaugurated in 2019, and permanently irrigates the surrounding oasis, transforming the lives of local people.

The government has also improved irrigation systems, provided solar panels and planted new date palms for poor farmers, said Sidi Ahmed, president of a network of groups for the sustainable development of oases.

In his garden of around 20 palm trees near the regional hub of Atar, Moustapha Chibany picked a succulent date and popped it in his mouth.

"What interests me is not the economic aspect, it's the love of dates. Without them, there would be no life here, in such hostile conditions", he said.

T.Gilbert--TFWP