Rural income in Mauritania

Cash income in the sedentary and nomadic rural sectors is examined according to its various sources (e.g., traditional occupations, wages, and cash transfers), patterns of income distribution, and (for the sedentary sector only) ethnic group. Finally, the cash income structure for the rural sector as a whole is examined and budgeting patterns in the sedentary and nomadic subsectors are delineated. Results show that Mauritania"s rural sector is in a period of acute economic crisis. The traditional productive sectors (animal husbandry, farming, fishing, and handicrafts) contribute less to total rural income than previously; the sector as a whole is drifting towards wage employment, especially in tertiary occupations; savings levels are low; cash transfers originating from interregional and international migrations have become important income supplements; and income distribution is uneven. Fourteen tables, 6 graphs, and 4 maps are included. Appended are additional analyses of the sampling method used in the survey and a description of the Gini index, used in the report to measure inequality in income distribution.