In Mauritania, the ADDOA project continues its commitment to women’s economic empowerment and the sustainable development of the oases of Adrar. Through the establishment of a support fund for productive initiatives, 15 entrepreneurial projects, including 5 individual initiatives and 10 women’s cooperatives, have been selected in the municipality of Aoujeft. This initiative aims to support local economic activities, promote oasis products and strengthen household incomes.
A Support Fund to Promote Local Entrepreneurship
In the oases of Adrar, agricultural production and processing activities represent an important source of income for local communities, particularly women. However, their development is often constrained by limited access to equipment, financing and markets.
To address these challenges, the Support for the Sustainable Development of the Oases of Adrar (ADDOA) project, implemented by the Mauritanian NGO Tenmiya and CARI, with financial support from the French Development Agency (AFD), launched a call for proposals targeting individual entrepreneurs and women’s cooperatives in the municipality of Aoujeft.
This mechanism aims to support income-generating and job-creating initiatives in oasis value chains, particularly in agricultural production, processing and marketing of local products. Beyond financial assistance, beneficiaries will also have access to training and technical support to strengthen their activities and ensure their long-term sustainability.
Fifteen Initiatives Selected Through a Competitive Process
Following the call for proposals, a selection committee met on 9 June 2026 in Aoujeft, bringing together representatives of local authorities, civil society and the ADDOA project.
Applications were reviewed through several stages, including eligibility checks, verification of administrative documents, and technical and financial assessments of the proposed projects.
At the end of this process, 15 initiatives were selected to benefit from the support fund: 5 individual entrepreneurial projects and 10 women’s cooperatives.
The submitted projects reflect the dynamism of local economic actors and the diversity of opportunities for adding value to oasis resources. They cover a range of activities, including market gardening, processing of local cereals, date valorisation and traditional henna production.
These activities offer two main benefits: strengthening the incomes of entrepreneurs and cooperative members, while contributing to local market supply and promoting the territory’s traditional knowledge and skills.
Concrete Initiatives to Enhance the Value of Oasis Resources
Several of the proposed initiatives focus on strengthening vegetable production, an essential activity for food supply in oasis communities. Cooperatives aim to improve their production capacities through the acquisition of agricultural tools, seeds and irrigation equipment. These investments are expected to increase the volume of vegetables produced and marketed, while improving members’ incomes.
Other initiatives focus on processing and adding value to local agricultural products. These include projects dedicated to producing traditional couscous from cereals, through the acquisition of cooking, processing and packaging equipment. Such investments will enable women entrepreneurs to improve their working conditions, product quality and marketing capacities, particularly in the markets of Aoujeft and Nouakchott.
More specialised activities also illustrate the potential for economic diversification in the oases. These include a traditional henna processing project, aimed at improving grinding and packaging techniques, as well as an initiative to produce a traditional coffee-like beverage from dates, offering a new opportunity to add value to local oasis products.
The selection of these 15 initiatives marks an important milestone in the implementation of the ADDOA project. The next steps will focus on formalising agreements, providing the planned support and assisting beneficiaries in developing their activities.
Through this support mechanism, ADDOA aims to strengthen the local economic fabric, particularly through women’s entrepreneurship, while encouraging the sustainable use and valorisation of the resources and traditional know-how of the oases of Adrar.
