Mauritania and irrigated development projects: the case of the Gorgol pilot perimeter

The majority of the projects developed with food self-sufficiency in mind have many problems, particularly if one considers their results at the social level. The project taken as a model, the case of the Gorgol Pilot Perimeter, is one of the best examples in Mauritania, due to its age compared with other projects and above all due to the richness of the data available on it. The first part of the study begins with an evaluation of the record, which is characterized by a notable absence of existing socioeconomic studies and the absence of participation by the populations involved, and finishes with an analysis of the implications of that record and the perspectives this provides. The second part attempts to determine the basic characteristics of the sometimes different rationalities that motivate the peasants and the state. -from Author