Land Confiscation in Mauritania

 

> The local authorities in Mauritania are pursuing their dangerous project to take southerners’ agricultural land. In Fuuta, name of that region of southern Mauritania, represent a large portion of the band that mark the transition from the Sahara desert to what is commonly called Sub Saharan Africa. It used to be part of the Ghana empire before falling in Mauritania, Senegal and Mali after French subdivided what they called French Soudan into the above three countries around 1900. In that country (region) land is life. It is the representation of one’s family wealth and ownership. The livelihood consists of farming and livestock growing cows, sheep and goats.

> That region has always been the target of the nomad Moors. Endless deadly conflicts took place throughout history. The attachment to the land of the Fuuta population can be described as religious. The land is what they swear with. The land determines power and family membership. A young man at the age of marrying is offered a piece of land by his father to cultivate in order to attend to the needs of his future family.

> The nomad moors (Arabs), with their herds of camels travel from place to place in search of water and grass for their livestock during dry seasons. Other caravans come for trans-Saharan trade needs. They travel from the desert north to the relatively wet south where live the Blacks halpular, Wolof, Soninke and other black African ethnic groups. They setup camps in the outskirt of the villages. For reasons of history, although it is out of the scope of this posting, it is during these trips that they kidnap black children playing around the villages or sent to get wood, or also, working as herd keepers. Those kidnapped kids are used as workforce; see here the origin of the slavery as we know it later as centuries’ long and lucrative international trade.

> No need to say that in the era globalization and the race of the fast growing economies and over populated countries for land grabbing, the traditional way of hand farming must leave the place to a modern more productive way. It is, also, true the people from Fuuta have no means to put that land to exploitation at a large scale. They are impoverished by decades of discrimination and hard hand dictatorship many dramatic results on their lives. Some of my other postings go in detail about these exactions. There is a real need for modernization of the agriculture, but it must go with in mind the interests of the real owners of the land. Any project of exploitation; be it by nationals or foreigners must start with discussions with the local populations who own it since centuries. No mandate from any authority should override the traditional ownership of the land. Instead of giving the land to foreign investors, the government should create an environment of trust and work with the farmers to meets the millennium goal of food self-sufficiency.

> “Land and blood are closely linked in the Fuuta” say the locals literally and figuratively to demonstrate how sacred are these lands. Consequently a responsible approach is necessary to avoid risk of serious trouble. French colons did try during a longtime to take over those fertile zones. Faced with a tough resistance they resort to imposing a tax for land use. Later some Arab emirs tried to extend to their own benefit that tax. Local chiefs like Thierno Souleymane Ball, historic figure in the region, refused to pay and fought to break that domination.

> Today, local authorities sent by the central Arab government believe, maybe, after decades of suffering and poverty le land grab will be easy and no need to convene with anyone but the money holders (Saudi investors). They are using legislation they made few years back in the 80’s in the intent to legalize that expropriation. In that piece of legislation they place the arable land belonging to families since two thousand years in the public domain; as such, it belongs to anyone who has the means to develop it.

 

> By Mamadou Guisse
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