Mauritania has launched the SYSALIM program, a bold initiative aimed at transforming the country’s food systems to ensure accessible, nutritious, and climate-resilient diets for all. Backed by international partners and grounded in environmental sustainability, the program focuses on promoting local food production, empowering small-scale producers, and improving food security through inclusive, gender-sensitive, and climate-adapted strategies.
SYSALIM’s objectives are twofold: to enhance climate-smart value chains with high nutritional and economic potential, and to strengthen the institutional and governance frameworks needed to address the structural causes of food and nutrition insecurity. Special emphasis is placed on empowering women and youth, supporting local micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and boosting rural development through sustainable food production. Consumers will benefit from improved access to healthy, diverse local products, while producers will gain access to green finance and market opportunities.
At the sub-national level, the program will deliver professional advisory services on climate and biodiversity, strengthen value chains such as milk, local cereals, and market gardening, and promote healthy diets through awareness campaigns.
Nationally, SYSALIM aims to integrate nutrition into public policies in key sectors, improve monitoring tools, analyze nutrition-related public spending, and support the development of dietary guidelines.
This comprehensive approach underscores the importance of coordinated public action and local leadership in creating a sustainable, nutrition-sensitive food future for Mauritania.