A 3-month pilot study conducted from April-June 1979 with 16 major informants provides information for constructing a preliminary model of female life in Mauritania. An introduction gives definitions for terms used differently in Mauritania (tribe, ethnic group, and class) and discusses examples of each. The study (based mainly on repeated…

In order to indicate potential income-generating programs for women, 67 women in the river region and selected sites in the Assaba and the Guidimakha were interviewed in 1980 to illuminate effects of the 1970s-80s drought and male migration on Mauritanian women. Hypotheses were based on the drought causing unprecedented disruption to Mauritanian…