MAIN ACTIVITIES

Nutrition and health

• Capacity building of 28 health centers
• Good food practices
• Capacity building of local organizations
• Nutrition surveys
• Information, education and communication about health and nutrition
• Development of a safety net for families with one or more malnourished children
• Support for the operation of a system of free care and referral / evacuation
• Provision of equipment, materials, hygiene kits...
• Support in the community detection
• Monitoring community-level diagnostics and home visits
• Information, education and communication on food and nutrition practices
• Information, education and communication in child care
• Distribution of food vouchers during the lean period
• Monitoring of nutritional indicators of children under 5 years

Food Security

• Rehabilitation and construction of supply stores
• Promotion of horticulture for consumption of vegetables
• Protection of the perimeters of horticulture, grain and pastoral reserves
• Technical support to horticultural cooperatives
• Vegetable gardens development
• Improvement of the quality of seeds
• Protection of areas of agricultural production
• Diversification of income generating sources
• Strengthening organizational supplies stores
• Training on productive and farming techniques
• Technical-economic support to horticultural cooperatives
• Cash for Work
• Distribution of money during the lean period

Food Security - Livestock

• Vaccination campaign for animals
• Distribution of goats to vulnerable families
• Technical and veterinary support for farmers

Water and sanitation

• Evaluation of water infrastructure and analysis of water quality
• Rehabilitation of water projects
• Improvement of access to water for agro-pastoral use
• Construction/rehabilitation of water infrastructure
• Potable water supply
• Sensitization on hygiene practices
• Studies of implementation of water points
• Construction of points of water supply
• Hydraulic Planning of grain perimeters
• Commissioning of water purification methods at low cost
• Promotion of the eradication of open defecation
• Protection and hydraulic empowerment of horticultural production areas
• Training and awareness on good hygiene practices
• Construction of sanitation infrastructure
• Capacity building of the Committees of Management of water points

HUMANITARIAN CONTEXT
 

Mauritania is a country of influence of Al Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which significantly reduces the ability of humanitarian intervention this last years.
The terrorists ’actions in the area forced ACF to evacuate its human resources and to concentrate them in the capital. Except for terrorist, other forms of violence (crime, Tuareg rebellion, bordering traffic) make Mauritania a country less safe.

Water resources are scarce: 47% of the population lacks access to safe water, a percentage which increases up to 80% in areas in rural areas. Only 0.5% of land is used for agricultural production. This situation leads to a great dependence towards grain imports from other countries. The country imports over 70% of their basic food needs. The increase in grain prices on international market and poor crops these last years had a strong impact on the most vulnerable families.  

In Gorgol, 15% of children under five suffer from acute malnutrition. This percentage reached the critical line defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). The country has a significant structural food deficit.