Dubai Telegraph - Climate change threatens age-old Mauritania date harvest

EUR -
AED 3.826681
AFN 70.961758
ALL 98.138602
AMD 405.652886
ANG 1.877182
AOA 951.190259
ARS 1045.720247
AUD 1.602814
AWG 1.877897
AZN 1.775245
BAM 1.955573
BBD 2.102956
BDT 124.465544
BGN 1.955294
BHD 0.392554
BIF 3076.642669
BMD 1.041829
BND 1.403837
BOB 7.197164
BRL 6.043693
BSD 1.041579
BTN 87.914489
BWP 14.229347
BYN 3.408604
BYR 20419.848375
BZD 2.099456
CAD 1.456529
CDF 2991.091432
CHF 0.930957
CLF 0.036923
CLP 1018.83097
CNY 7.54601
CNH 7.562783
COP 4573.368835
CRC 530.538382
CUC 1.041829
CUP 27.608468
CVE 110.252195
CZK 25.343745
DJF 185.478458
DKK 7.457729
DOP 62.772709
DZD 139.835759
EGP 51.726992
ERN 15.627435
ETB 127.508391
FJD 2.371151
FKP 0.822333
GBP 0.831435
GEL 2.855018
GGP 0.822333
GHS 16.456089
GIP 0.822333
GMD 73.970229
GNF 8977.957272
GTQ 8.040066
GYD 217.904692
HKD 8.110066
HNL 26.320943
HRK 7.431636
HTG 136.72412
HUF 411.522823
IDR 16610.452733
ILS 3.856892
IMP 0.822333
INR 87.968134
IQD 1364.44153
IRR 43834.955489
ISK 145.523076
JEP 0.822333
JMD 165.930728
JOD 0.738765
JPY 161.244275
KES 134.884334
KGS 90.122166
KHR 4193.512952
KMF 492.268155
KPW 937.645704
KRW 1463.259646
KWD 0.320727
KYD 0.867999
KZT 520.059599
LAK 22878.342838
LBP 93271.167197
LKR 303.144792
LRD 187.998165
LSL 18.795317
LTL 3.076251
LVL 0.630192
LYD 5.086409
MAD 10.478083
MDL 18.997794
MGA 4861.435378
MKD 61.522855
MMK 3383.819949
MNT 3540.134882
MOP 8.35093
MRU 41.443187
MUR 48.810083
MVR 16.10707
MWK 1806.090235
MXN 21.283008
MYR 4.654932
MZN 66.583684
NAD 18.795317
NGN 1767.675143
NIO 38.325549
NOK 11.53576
NPR 140.663663
NZD 1.785942
OMR 0.400943
PAB 1.041579
PEN 3.949541
PGK 4.193513
PHP 61.404399
PKR 289.239507
PLN 4.337676
PYG 8131.055634
QAR 3.798559
RON 4.978071
RSD 116.991412
RUB 108.671879
RWF 1421.834864
SAR 3.911473
SBD 8.734231
SCR 14.272055
SDG 626.663972
SEK 11.497837
SGD 1.402931
SHP 0.822333
SLE 23.68116
SLL 21846.638123
SOS 595.230868
SRD 36.978718
STD 21563.75683
SVC 9.113941
SYP 2617.626467
SZL 18.788818
THB 35.922648
TJS 11.092512
TMT 3.646401
TND 3.309016
TOP 2.440072
TRY 35.9978
TTD 7.074178
TWD 33.946439
TZS 2770.578216
UAH 43.089995
UGX 3848.553017
USD 1.041829
UYU 44.294855
UZS 13362.448044
VES 48.506662
VND 26482.251319
VUV 123.688032
WST 2.90836
XAF 655.880824
XAG 0.033274
XAU 0.000384
XCD 2.815595
XDR 0.792308
XOF 655.880824
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.379151
ZAR 18.915093
ZMK 9377.71492
ZMW 28.772658
ZWL 335.468513
  • RBGPF

    59.2400

    59.24

    +100%

  • BTI

    0.4000

    37.38

    +1.07%

  • RIO

    -0.2200

    62.35

    -0.35%

  • RELX

    0.9900

    46.75

    +2.12%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.46

    +0.06%

  • SCS

    0.2300

    13.27

    +1.73%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    26.77

    +0.34%

  • AZN

    1.3700

    65.63

    +2.09%

  • BP

    0.2000

    29.72

    +0.67%

  • BCC

    3.4200

    143.78

    +2.38%

  • VOD

    0.1323

    8.73

    +1.52%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    33.96

    +0.77%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    6.79

    -0.15%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.21

    -0.15%

  • NGG

    1.0296

    63.11

    +1.63%

  • CMSC

    0.0320

    24.672

    +0.13%

Climate change threatens age-old Mauritania date harvest
Climate change threatens age-old Mauritania date harvest / Photo: Michele Cattani - 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.

J.Chacko--DT