Mauritania - Agricultural Transformation Support Project (PATAM)

This Agricultural Transformation Support Project (PATAM) is designed to support the upstream and downstream agricultural production subsectors in the Brakna-Ouest region. Its aims to improve food security and the living conditions of target communities through the inclusive and sustainable development of crop sectors. The PATAM is fully consistent with the Accelerated Growth and Shared Prosperity Strategy (SCAPP) intended, among others, to consolidate the role of the agropastoral sector and transform it into a source of economic diversification and growth. The project will focus on the Brakna-Ouest region, considered a zone afflicted by extreme poverty (12 points higher than the national poverty rate), and will affect Trarza and Nouakchott regions. It will finance: (i) the establishment of the main irrigation infrastructure (vegetable farming areas for women on 200 ha and flood-recession farming areas on 3,300 ha); (ii) the promotion of value chains and of youth and women's entrepreneurship as well as the establishment of inclusive and innovative agricultural sector financing mechanisms (guarantee funds, agricultural insurance, etc.); and (iii) institutional capacity-building and project coordination. The project has identified the following three components: (i) transformative irrigation schemes; (ii) promotion of value chains, youth and women's entrepreneurship; and (iii) capacity building and project coordination.