The FAO representation in Mauritania, in partnership with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Promotion of Productive Sectors, organized from May 30 to June 2, 2023 in Nouadhibou, a participatory brainstorming workshop aimed at strengthening the capacities of policymakers to support responsible investments in agriculture and food systems in Mauritania. This activity, which represents the second stage of a blended learning program initiated online since last April, focused on the analysis of five priority issues in relation to agricultural investments in the Mauritanian context. The primary objective of this collaborative analysis is to lay the groundwork for the development of a national action plan to be implemented by the end of 2023 in the third and final stage of the training.

Participatory identification of priority areas

With a focus on promoting responsible agricultural investment, participants addressed the five priority challenges pre-identified in the online phase of the training program, namely (i) engaging young people in the agricultural and agri-food sectors, (ii) empowering women, (iii) protecting land rights, (iv) aligning policy and incentive frameworks with the principles for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems, and (v) strengthening coordination between the various institutional stakeholders in the sector.

The brainstorming session involved some twenty political leaders and technicians from several public institutions, including the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Promotion of Productive Sectors, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Livestock, the Land Unit, the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy, the Ministry of Culture, Youth, Sports and Relations with Parliament, and the Ministry of Finance.

In addition to validating and adopting the five pillars of the action plan, participants also worked together to progressively identify concrete solutions to overcome these challenges through a series of participatory activities and group discussions, such as stakeholder mapping, assessments of non-alignments and inconsistencies with the CFS-RAI Principles in laws, regulations, policies and institutions, incentives and guarantees that should influence investment in agriculture and food systems in Mauritania.
 
A three-phase, multi-dimensional learning program
 
The organization of this face-to-face workshop is a continuation of a pre-established three-phase learning program within the framework of the project "Stimulating responsible investment in agriculture and food systems by young agri-entrepreneurs to promote territorial development and strengthen value chains", implemented in Mauritania and Tunisia throughout 2023 thanks to funds from the FAO Flexible Voluntary Contribution.

In order to ensure a solid and lasting national commitment, the three-phase progressive approach first offered the various partner institutions six individual online modules providing an introduction to the principles of responsible agricultural investment (from April 17 to May 12, 2023). The second phase encouraged exchanges between participants throughout the face-to-face workshop, and enabled the collective development of a first draft of the national action plan, as well as individual action plans for each stakeholder. Finally, the third phase, based on a three-month online mentoring program, will focus on further reflection on the draft action plans, their finalization and concrete implementation.