Guetna, Ramadan bring rare economic opportunities in Mauritania

Many Mauritanians are finding jobs during this year's date harvesting season, earning additional income from the popular iftar snack.

By Mohamed Yahya Ould Abdel Wedoud for Magharebia in Nouakchott – 10/08/11

In a rare coincidence, Mauritania's date harvesting season, or Guetna, coincides with Ramadan this year, offering new economic opportunities for the nation's unemployed youth.

Mauritanians used to depend on canned dates imported from Tunisia, Morocco and Saudi Arabia in past years. But with Guenta occurring during Ramadan this year, the increased demand created by the holy month is leading to new jobs for Mauritanians.

"Like other young people in rural areas, I have benefited from Guetna season," Mbark Ould Mohamed told Magharebia. "I started my business in trading in dates weeks ago. I transport dates from the oases in the north to capital Nouakchott, where I sell them."

Ould Mohamed said that "there is high popular demand for the dates because of the advent of Ramadan; something that made some unemployed people, mainly holders of university certificates and students, go for trading in dates in view of the profits that can be generated from such a trade."

The benefits of the Guetna season are seen by urban Mauritanians as well. Hundreds of young people in cities now buy dates from rural distributors and then market them in their own way.

"I signed a marketing agreement a few months ago with some owners of oases in remote areas who can't go to cities to market and sell their products of dates because they are busy," Mohamed Val Ould Bekren, a man in his 30s, told Magharebia. "I've hired a lot of young people to work with me in this business. Thank God, we've managed to make considerable profits, and the process is still ongoing."

Mohamed Ould Bahiye, a man in his 50s who works in the tourist sector, told Magharebia that while Mauritanian dates were of a high quality, the country lacked the factories to can and preserve them for longer periods.

"Therefore, the Guetna season is the only period in which these dates can be used. Now that Ramadan doesn't often coincide with Guetna season, Mauritanians resort to imported dates," he said, adding that "it seems that this year is an exception. There is no doubt that the fact that the Guetna season coincided with Ramadan will revive the national economy."

For his part, environmental specialist Bedder Eddine Ould Salem said: "Mauritania has about 7 million date palm trees in the northern and eastern parts of the country. They annually produce hundreds of thousands of tons of different species of dates; something that makes Mauritania's 4 million people self-sufficient, but only during the Guetna season."

"We should also take into consideration that large quantities of these dates are wasted every year because of insects and birds, and also because of the lack of refrigeration and preservation equipment that can preserve dates for longer periods of time," Ould Salem said.

"There are no companies working in the field of date palm trees oases," he added. "Most of the oases are owned by families that inherit them from generation to another away from state control."

The increase in opportunities in the date industry in Mauritania may well assuage the country's unemployment problem for a time.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/10/feature-04.