CERF allocates $2.2 million for emergency nutritional assistance in Mauritania

Close to 220,000 people including 165,000 children under age five and 9,000 pregnant and lactating women will benefit from a $2.2 million allocation from CERF to support humanitarian agencies working in Mauritania.

Food insecurity is a serious problem in Mauritania since national agricultural production covers only a quarter of national food consumption. Months before the harvest, it is predicted that the stocked food for families will be exhausted and food insecurity and malnutrition indicators will deteriorate.

The World Food Programme (WFP) received close to $1 million to benefit 29,440 people through emergency nutrition programmes in the southern and central regions. Some $440,000 allocated for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) will provide nutritional assistance to 9,100 pregnant and lactating women while aiming to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has been allocated $427,000 to assist 12,000 farmers and 8,000 breeders who are affected by pluviometric deficiency, malnutrition, and food insecurity. A grant of $233,000 to the World Health Organization (WHO) will assist 1,877 severely malnourished children under age five with nutritional interventions in the south and central regions. Lastly, $200,000 has been allocated to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for emergency nutritional assistance that will directly benefit 1,900 malnourished children.