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Water and sun to facilitate vegetable production in Gourel Doro, Mauritania

  • 2025 Winner

Association for Sustainable Development through Organic Agriculture, Education and Vocational Training (ADABE)

Context

In the Gourel Doro region of Mauritania, communities face irregular rainfall, drought, and limited access to water, all of which threaten local food security. Market gardening and dairy farming are the region's main economic activities, but a lack of agricultural equipment and high operating costs hinder their development. These challenges are driving many young people to migrate to cities in search of opportunities.

Faced with this problem, a community-based approach emerged in 2020, resulting in the acquisition of 2.5 hectares of land and the creation of a local contribution system. Three years later, a test fence was installed on the plot to protect experimental crops from animals, thus reducing agricultural losses. This initial step paved the way for the project led by the associations ADABE and ASEPT, with the support of the Mauritanian Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture: an organic farm powered by a solar system and drip irrigation.

  • In partnership with: Association for Solidarity, Awakening and Progress of Toulel (ASEPT)

Project objectives

  • Promoting the economic empowerment of women and youth through income-generating activities
  • Improving the living conditions of farmers, including access to water and healthy food products
  • Create a lever for professional integration by developing local economic and agricultural opportunities

Activities

  • Installation of hydraulic and energy infrastructure: drilling, water reservoir, solar pump and drip irrigation system
  • Preparing the land and installing a wire fence to protect the crops
  • Crops and harvests on the market garden plot, with processing of agricultural surpluses and storage to reduce losses
  • Marketing of products to local markets, schools and village retailers
  • Community awareness-raising about organic consumption
  • Ongoing training for ASEPT members in organic market gardening techniques (composting, irrigation, fish farming) as well as in cooperative management

Direct beneficiaries

  • 20 agricultural producers
  • 2 members of the management committee (1 woman and 1 man)
  • More than 4,639 residents, shopkeepers, and other farmers will be indirectly affected by the project.

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Through its Microprojects division, the La Guilde association, in partnership with the French Development Agency, supports the implementation of microprojects in the service of sustainable development internationally.