- Title a-mrt-1985-001
- Record Creation Date
- Summary "Mauritanie: Les jardins de l’espoir" (“Mauritania : Gardens of Hope”, c. 1985, Mauritanian Red Crescent, French) Programme about an initiative of the Mauritanian Red Crescent (MRC) to set up kitchen or vegetable gardens, especially following periods of drought starting in 1973, with financial support from the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (LORCS, now the IFRC). Subjects covered include the background of drought and the migration of people to urban centres; the establishment of gardens; challenges faced; and successes achieved. The reporter talks to some of the farmers, and to people in different positions within the Mauritanian Red Crescent. The majority of the recording is in French, with some parts in [Arabic?] then translated into French. 00:00 Introduction of a man speaking about the lack of water in the well, making the gardening more difficult. 00:31 Titles and introductory music. 01:02 Effects of drought since 1973; initial response of government and Mauritanian Red Crescent to distribute food; need for long-term solution that would both feed the people and give them work; statistics of food aid still being distributed. 02:21 Madame [Salle?], President of the MRC: Establishment by the MRC of community projects so that people could be self-sustaining; projects initiated by the local communities and authorities; funds received from the LORCS and other humanitarian organisations. 03:54 Migration of population to urban centres because of the drought; MRC working with these communities so they can become independent; receipt of land from the government; division of land among families; preparation of terrain done by members of the Junior MRC and Junior Red Cross members from Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, and Mali; replication of project in other parts of the country. 05:16 City of Aleg in the Brakna region, formerly region good for agriculture because of Lake Aleg; decline in production due to drought; well-digging and change in practices to use less water; seeking additional funds to assist the farmers adapt. 07:21 Establishment of market gardens in 1980; currently supporting 53 families; challenges in training families in market garden methods. 09:01 Interviews with gardeners of the Market Garden of the Association of the Farmers of Aleg; variety of crops grown; still not enough water from the well; motor pump for the well given to the Association by the MRC in 1984; need to adapt pump so it reaches the bottom of the well. 12:06 Distribution of dried food from the LORCS and MRC as part of Opération Sécheresse; distributed to workers of the market garden. 15:11 Wives of the gardeners given seeds, which they sell to buy meat for their families; work on digging more wells due to lack of water; difficult to get enough food for their children; will submit a request for aid to the MRC. 17:50 Interview with Manager of Social Affairs and of Integrated Projects of the MRC: will seek help for these women so they can support their families; installation of motor pump for the well given by the LORCS; motor pump requires fuel but worth the cost for the labour saved; MRC provides the material and then up to the community to do the work. 21:15 Interview with Manager of Information Service of the MRC: time required for people to adapt to working with market gardens, especially for people used to having nomadic life raising livestock; integrated project allows the population to meet all their needs and engage in different types of activity; addresses problem of sudden influx in urban population. 24:30 Success of the market gardens in restoring life to a community; visit to a garden in the village of Bagodine, farmed by women; interview with Vice President of the local branch of the MRC: positive contribution of the garden to the local community; other programmes organized around the garden, including mother and children health. 26:57 Visit to the infirmary which performs check-ups of children, regular monitoring; also sale of food and coal for families. 28:18 Interview with the Secretary General of the Women Market Gardeners of Bagodine; Bagodine garden used as a model for other associations because it is so successful. 29:27 Summary of the market garden projects supported by the MRC and the Mauritanian government, with the funding of the LORCS. 30:00 Closing credits with music. Original format: BASF Type II audio cassette tape, Side A only. Digitised in 2023. Converted to MP3, reduced background noise, normalised audio levels, trimmed 11 seconds of silence at start and 5 seconds of silence at end of recording, and added fade in and out. The date of the recording is unknown; estimated to be in 1985 from dates given in the recording. For queries about copyright and the re-use of this film, please contact Archives.Contact[at]ifrc.org Original cassette tape digitised by EPFL Cultural Heritage & Innovation Center (https://www.epfl.ch/research/domains/centre-innovation-patrimoines-culturels/).
- Resolution Medium Resolution (Between 1MB and 3MB)
- Region Africa
- Archive series Communications: Audio recordings
- Archive source format Audio cassette
- Exif Date
- IPTC Date
- XMP Create Date
- Alt Ref No Cassette ID No. ac_0018_A [Side B blank]
- Alternative title "Jardins potager en Mauritanie" [written on cassette tape] : "Kitchen gardens in Mauritania"
- Date_Taken 1st January 1985
- Keywords Archive, Drought, Food Security, Livelihoods, Migration
- Language French: FR
- Location Aleg Bagodine
- Music
- Reference Number a-mrt-1985-001
- Rights usage terms Ask permission before use
- Subtitles
- Copyright owner Co-production between Mauritanian Red Crescent, IFRC, and Radio France Internationale
- Country Mauritania
- Credit line Reporter: Anne Blancard
- Existing Description
Created by
sarahjoy…@ifrc.org
