 The Mauritania ExampleOne nation which deals with chronic hunger and poverty is Mauritania (formally the Islamic Republic of Mauritania). Mauritania is a country in western North Africa (bordering the Atlantic Ocean); it is about the size of Egypt, with just over 3 million citizens. It is an extremely poor nation, with 20% of the population living on under $1.25 USD per day. [1] This extreme poverty was already connected to high rates of Slavery in Mauritania, which has been called slaveries last stronghold”, with up to 10%[2] of the population being held captive against their will. There is strong racial discrimination against black citizens in the nation, and they are typically impacted even more severely by hunger than other Mauritanians. [3] In 2008 the people of Mauritania were some of the hardest hit in the world. With the rise of globalization, the agriculturally challenged country’s government (mistakenly) believed that the future would allow them to always import the grains, cereals, and other basic which were required for survival. They ceased pushing agricultural efforts, and abandoned their practice of fixed-prices. What they did not count on was the global market failing. It turns out the market did not work for food, resulting in a breakdown in 2007-2008, with hoarding, stockpiling, huge export taxes, and a worldwide food-freeze. A personal account of the Mauritanian nightmare in 2008 comes from Likbir Ould Mohammed Mahmoud; he was a 39 year old man who worked odd jobs and herded goats. His story was chronicled by the Washington Post, where he was faced with the agonizing choice to slaughter his goat, which provided him and his family meat for a few days, yet deprived them of milk over time, leaving his daughters crying in the mornings out of hunger. He spoke of his frustration to the Post:
With less than $1.50 per day to support his family of four, and skyrocketing food prices, Likbir was one of the victims of the crisis of 2008:
There was not a follow up article on Likbir and his family, so hopefully they came out of that particular crisis okay. But with no improvement in overall poverty and hunger levels in the nation, as well as political instability in the region (The government was overthrown in August 2008, in a military coup d'état[4], and unrest reignited in 2011 during the Arab spring, continuing today[5]) Mauritania is a long way from food security and economic stability. |
