Analysing vulnerability and strengthening Mauritania's climate change adaptation

Mauritania is a desert country, in the south of which the majority of the population lives from subsistence farming and stock farming. The Sahel region, in which these people live, has always been exposed to major climate fluctuations and, correspondingly, variable amounts of precipitation. However, the degradation of the small amount of natural resources in the region and the expected increase in climatic variability as a result of climate change is radically escalating the threat to the livelihoods of the mostly poor population. This is also increasing the already existing potential for conflict between subsistence farmers and stock farmers.

Against this backdrop, the GIZ project aims at strengthening the capacity for climate change adaptation in rural areas has commissioned adelphi and their partner Z_GIS to conduct a two-stage integrated vulnerability analysis, initially for the regions of Assaba and Brakna, and subsequently at a local level in especially vulnerable regions. The goal of the project is to improve knowledge on vulnerability in both regions and thereby to derive possible options for adaptation. The results will also help to develop climate plans, aided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and will establish a basis for planning implementation measures that will be sponsored by the GIZ and UNDP, as part of an EU project. Moreover, an integral part of the project is the development of a framework for monitoring the impact of adaptation measures.