Large women have long been appreciated in Africa, but nowhere has size been more sought after than in Mauritania. Affluent nomadic families living in this West
African country have traditionally force fed their girls into obesity. Being fat was
not only beautiful, it was a sign of wealth and social status. But force feeding and
super-sized women are going out of style. 

 Fatma Sidi Mohammed didn't eat western-style Big Macs and french fries when she was a little girl, living in a tiny village in southeastern Mauritania. But she did
drink milk. Lots of it. 

At the age of nine, Mrs. Mohamed says, her family made her to drink milk from
morning until night. Later, she was forced to eat mountains of lamb and other solid
food. Sometimes, she would throw up, or try to avoid eating altogether. But by the
time she was a teenager, Mrs. Mohamed says, she was so enormous that even walking slowly was an effort. Mrs. Mohamed is hardly the only Mauritanian woman who was force fed as a child. Arab girls in this country have long been fattened up to be beautiful and to bring glory  to their families. 

Mrs. Mohamed says most families start fattening their girls at age nine or 10.
Fatter girls look older, she says - old enough to marry. But as far as Mrs. Mohammed is concerned, it's the families who benefited from these early marriages, not the girls, who were sometimes wed as early as 12- years-old. 
For years, force feeding girls was an unquestioned part of life in this desert
nation. Just a few decades ago, most Mauritanians were nomadic. The country's
affluent moors, or ethnic Arabs, owned slaves. That meant women like Mrs. Mohamed had little to do besides eat and lie around. As one Moorish saying goes: The glory of a man is measured by the fatness of his woman. 
But the Mauritanian society has changed dramatically in recent years. 
Drought and desertification have forced many Mauritanians to move to cities like
Nouakchott, to find work. Here, women like 29-year-old Aishitu Mint Sid Ahmed can't afford to sit around and eat. Ms. Sid Ahmed is a single mother, who sells clothes at Nouakchott's main market. She's a big woman, but she's not obese. 
Being too fat, Mrs. Moubarek says, would make it difficult to work. She says many
women now want to do sports, and trim down. Poverty is only one reason for Mauritania's changing weight standards. And glossy women's magazines and satellite television have arrived in Africa, bringing with them a new, skinnier definition of beauty. 

So today men like 35-year-old Kante Omar Harouna don't view obesity as a top
criteria in finding a wife. Mr. Harouna said thinner women are more active, and more cool. That's what makes a good wife. But Mr. Harouna, who is still single, says he doesn't want his future wife to be too thin. If so, he says, people will think her husband doesn't care for her. 

Obesity among Mauritanian women has also led to soaring cases of heart disease and other health problems. Just as importantly, says Salek Ould Jereib, spokesman for the Mauritanian women's ministry, force feeding is one of many examples of discrimination against women in this Muslim society. 

Mr. Jereib says many people mistakenly assume that traditional practices like force feeding, genital mutilation and early marriage are sanctified by Islam. 

A few years ago, the Mauritanian government launched a major campaign against force feeding girls, and other forms of gender discrimination. They convinced imams, or Muslim preachers, to spread the word that these practices
  were not condoned in the Koran.  Today, there are signs of progress. A few decades ago, some 70 percent of Mauritanian girls were force fed. Now, only about one in 10 are force fed. Still, a recent United Nations study found that the majority of women still believe that force feeding makes girls more beautiful, and improves their social standing. Some women take medications to fatten up quickly. 

 Non-governmental organizations here are also campaigning against force feeding, and for greater women's rights. That includes the group Espoire, or hope. The NGO offers literacy classes, health sessions and micro credit for poor women in Nouakchott.

It's run by Fatma Sidi Mohamed, who doesn't want this generation of Mauritanian
girls to be force fed like she was.  Mrs. Mohamed says women who earn incomes are much more likely to send their girls to school than to keep them at home, and fatten them up for early marriage.  Now in her 40s, Mrs. Mohamed is still an attractive woman. She's big, but certainly not obese. Her 22-year-old daughter, Wafaa, works as an accountant. She's average size, and unmarried. 

Mrs. Mohamed says she constantly warns her daughter against overeating. She doesn't want her to suffer as she did. Mrs. Mohamed also says she exercises regularly and watches her diet. She'd still like to lose a few more pounds. But she has no interest in being super skinny. That may the dream of western women, she says, but not of Mauritanian ones. 

 Mauritanian women have known different status since the independence. In fact, the Mauritanian woman has fought for her emancipation like any other modern women. Realizing that she can't no more stand for being confined; she has made known her  voice in order to participate in the economic and social development of her country.

However, according to Mauritanian traditions, a women must be hard working, docile, submissive and patient. It is up to man to have the first and last word. She has nothing to do, but obey. All her occupation deals with cooking and looking after
children. She cannot be given the opportunity to go to school. Everything in the
society must be held by men. As an example, in the past Mauritanian women had no right to decide about weddings and social ceremonies. Only a very few women were able to read and write. Most of them were not allowed to have access to further education. They have suffered from polygamy, precocious marriage and affliction of birth. But nowadays, Mauritanian women are getting rid of these social, cultural and psychological burdens. As a matter of fact, Mauritanian family knows today some harmony resulting from the contribution of the wife about the familial expenses which were only on the husband's back. For instance, most of the women from the southern part of Mauritania are farmers whose crops are not only for sale, they are too to be consumed in the family. Some of them that live in big cities share the rent with their husbands. In general many more of them held out some kind of feminine cooperatives, the money from which they pay for their own basic needs for not to disturb husbands. Thus, Mauritanian modern women feel like to share the same status with her compatriot men. Some years ago (from 1976-1980) 45% of the agricultural activity were held by women; contrasted to 20% raising animals. Today most of Mauritanian black urban women make dyeing and sell out these products in the market place. There is a women's trade fair which is yearly organized in Nouakchott by the government on the behalf of al female citizens so that the display all what they could produce within running the twelve months. On that day, Mauritanian women show the goods they invented by themselves such as make up, objets d'art, clothes in fashion… etc.

Indeed, Mauritanian white women travel the most. They shuttle between Mauritanian big cities and the rest of the world by paying and selling. That is in the economic field, they play an important role. They contribute to the investment of a large number of plans which are to be boosting the national economy. The government itself gives a considerable opportunities to women to be in the sector of insertion and reinsertion. The schooling of young girls is about 80%. As for the instruction of illiterate women, is being encouraged since the 1990's. For one of the most important things the president and the head of the government worry about is to help women how to access to the active life by going to school or having experience in contradiction to the past, the present Mauritanian women is subject to changing role in any kind of era. Though, many more women enjoy being integrated in the professional activities.

However, the way of Mauritanian women's life and role change as much as time
evolves. In fact in the after math of independence, no women had the right to talk
politics. At that time, Mauritanian women were only told and taught to get the
husband's household into shape. Only a few white Arab women could learn the
country's religion (Islam) by reciting the Koran and Hadiths . Around the 1970s,
some parents started sending their daughters to Mahadras (Koranic schools) as only a very few of parents were for modern school. As a mater of fact, at that time,
women's role was mainly, educating children and taking care of the kitchen. She had neither voice, nor choice. But around the 1990s, Mauritanian women started tasting the political matters in particular and professional functions in general a women started gaining the same status as men.

Consequently the government has granted an important role to the women in any field. Thus there is today a ministry called "State Secretary's Office for Women's Status" at the head of which rules a woman. This post was created to the advent of democracy in Mauritania. Since democracy, born 20th of July, 1990, women have been given rights to enjoy all from all their physical and mental faculties. They have been given better chances to feel themselves at home as they could apply for any job from the civil service. During the legislative elections of the summer, 1996, about 10 women were elected to parliament.

 Added to that, from 1996 on, a great number of women were hired in different kinds
 of posts. Also many women have gained the grade of Police Inspector. A lot of women are working at health services. For instance, at the national hospital center, three out of five nurses are women. The health competition that is held each year, help Mauritanian young girls up. In the secondary education, many women live on by teaching. And, a lot of graduate girls join student programs abroad. After all, the
Minister of Health and social affairs is a woman. That is, Mauritanian women of
today is no more that of yesterday.

Today, Mauritanian women have or try to have any means through which they can be emancipated from the weight of tradition, polygamy, forced marriage, precocious
marriages, excision, birth control and so on having social backgrounds, leave
something to be desired. As for sex equality, it's another story that will take too
much time. 

Importance of agriculture to the economy :

Mauritania's economy is dominated by agriculture, particularly the strong
agro-pastoral sector. In 1992, agriculture accounted for 29% of the GDP and
63.6% of the labour force. Output of staple foods such as millet, sorghum,
rice, and pulses is insufficient for the country's needs. A large part of
Mauritania consists of arid/semi-arid land and is thus unsuitable for crop
cultivation. Livestock rearing, however, plays an important role in the
lives of rural people. Nomads comprised 12% of the population in 1988,
compared to 73% in 1965. Fishing provides approximately 46% of the export
earnings and contributes 5-10% of the annual GDP, as well as makes a
significant contribution to. domestic food requirements. Fish processing is
the most important activity in the manufacturing sector and accounts for as
much as 4% of the GDP.

Role of women in agriculture :

Rural women play an essential role in agriculture. Although only 25.4% of
women in the country are classified as employed, many more are active in
unpaid work in the informal sector and agriculture. In addition, women
perform tasks that are vital to food provision and the maintenance of the
household. Women are involved in all phases of the agricultural cycle,
including planting, weeding, the protection and maintenance of fields, and
harvesting, conservation, storage, processing and marketing of produce.
Women play an important role in market gardening and in the processing of
milk products. In the fishery sector, women play an important role in the
processing and marketing of fish and fish products.

Division of Labour by Gender. Women's participation in nearly all aspects of
agricultural and livestock activities is significant. Men are largely
responsible for land clearing and for the cultivation of certain crops, such
as wetland rice. Men also take care of the herding and watering of large
animals, while the curing of skins, the processing of milk products, and the
care of small ruminants and poultry is the task of women. In addition, women
are responsible for household tasks, including food processing and
preparation, water fetching and wood collection. Women are also the
practitioners of traditional medicine.

According to the 1988 census, 35% of households are headed by women. The
increasing migration of males to the cities has resulted in heavier work
loads for women.

Although women in certain regions were traditionally responsible for rice
cultivation, wetland rice cultivation is now largely the province of men,
with women engaged mainly in irrigation, storage and marketing.

In some regions, both men and women are engaged in the construction of small
dams.

Gender Relations in Decision-making in Farming Activities. Men of the
extended families invariably make the major decisions on land transfer and
agricultural investments. Although women generally do not own land or
livestock, they usually make decisions on those aspects of the work for
which they are responsible and on the income derived from their activities
 

Sharing of powder and decision-making :

For the most part, there is a lack of women's representation in all
decision-making levels both in the public and private sectors.

Members and Officers of Agricultural/Rural Organizations. Although data is
incomplete, women's membership in farmers organizations and village
committees is increasing. The number of women's cooperatives has grown from
15 in 1982 to more than 500 in 1993. In addition, there are about 5000
cooperatives in the areas of agriculture, fishing and handicrafts with both
men and women members. Data on membership and office holders of these
associations is not gender disaggregated, and many of these cooperatives are
inactive. Women head 2.6% of the livestock associations.

Women in Decision-making Positions in Ministries and Government Bodies. Out
of a Cabinet of 22 formed in 1992, there is one woman who is in charge of
the Department on the Status of Women. Few other women hold decision-making
women hold decision-making positions in ministries or other government
bodies.
 

Mechanisms to promote the advancement of woman :

National Machinery. A Secretariat of State on the Status of Women (SECF) was
created in 1992. It is charged with developing a policy for the promotion
and protection of women and children, promoting economic and educational
activities for women, in collaboration with the concerned sectors, and
developing programmes to promote the participation of women in the
political, economic and social life of the country.

WID Units or Focal Points in Technical Ministries. An interministerial
committee on women, family and children (COFFE) was formed in 1992 to
evaluate and coordinate activities of the technical departments that target
women.

Women in DecisioNon-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). There are very few
national NGOs and only a small number of international NGOs present in the
country. About a dozen NGOs are members of an informal Federation of NGOs in
Mauritania. A number of NGOs have project components targeted at women. 

Women's rights:

Mauritania has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Mauritania has four areas of law which effect women in different ways:
Islamic law; Customary African law; Customary Arabic-Bedouin and Berber law;
and, (modern) Civil law

Women's rights in marriage are precarious, especially under Islamic and
customary African law. There have been several attempts to draw up a legal
code for women and the family. A new draft code has been drawn up and is
being circulated to women's structure by the Secretariat of State for the
Status of Women for information, discussion and approval.

Due to their high rate of illiteracy, women are often not aware of their
rights, and information concerning women's rights is insufficiently
distributed
 

Access to agricultural resources and services :

Land. Few women own land. In the traditional economy, women, youth, and the
servant class are not landowners. Decisions on and-use are generally
determined by men and the elderly. In 1983, an attempt to reform land
tenureship was not widespread.

Livestock. Both men and women are engaged in livestock, with men responsible
for large animals and women for small ruminants and poultry as well as for
the processing of animal products. Data is not available on ownership, but
women generally make decisions on the income derived from their activities.

Forestry. Although data collection is needed, reforestation projects
generally do not take into account the needs of women, who are those
primarily concerned with the gathering of forest products.

Water. In many places, women and men participate equally in the construction
of dams, weirs and breakwaters. Data collection is needed on water supply.

Credit. Women have difficulty accessing credit from formal banking
institutions as they do not own land and other collateral. Women's access to
credit is primarily through traditional savings groups; data collection is
needed on these groups.

Extension services and agricultural training. There is little information on
women's access to extension services or their participation in agricultural
training. Only about 30% of women are literate, compared to about 50% of
men. In 1991 about 55% of all children attended primary schools: 63% of all
boys, and 48% of all girls. However, with regards to secondary schools (age
12 and up), 14% of all children attended: 19% of all boys and 10% of all
girls. Gender disaggregated figures for tertiary education are not
available.

In 1988, there was a total of only 97 agricultural extension staff, including 3 women, or about 3% of the total.

Agricultural Extension Staff by Position and Gender. 1989

Policy Planning and Research
. The Secretariat of State for the Status of Women (SECF), with other
ministries such as the Ministry of Rural Development and the Environment,
are engaged in: drawing up a national plan and strategy for the integration
of rural women in agriculture; developing gender analysis training; and,
collecting information on the work of rural women.
.The national level staff of the SECF are being trained in analysis and
planning, and the regional level staff in planning, monitoring and
evaluation of women's programmes and projects.
. A documentation centre on women, the family and children, as well as a
data bank on women's cooperatives are being developed.

Legal and Policy Reform
. A draft family code is being developed.

Access to Agricultural Resources and Services
. A number of projects or project components are directed to improving
women's access to credit, technologies such as improved stoves, and
functional literacy. Areas to be strengthended

Policy Planning and Research.
. The Secretariat of State on the Status of Women needs to be strengthened
in terms of staff and financing.
. Data collection, statistics and research on women's roles in and
contribution to agriculture should be increased.
. Gender training should be extended to staff at the national and regional
levels.

Access to Agricultural Resources and Services
. Greater efforts are needed to improve women's access to credit, education
and technical training, income-generating activities, extension, water
supply, wood fuel, and appropriate technologies, particularly for food
processing.
. Women's groups should be strengthened and women's participation promoted
in village structures, particularly in the planning, implementation and
evaluation phases of projects.

«(…)   For these girls, marriage often means going to live with a man they hardly know who is old enough to be their grand-father. It marks the end of their schooling. It commences a lifetime of domestic and sexual subservience. It means premature pregnancies and in many cases, early death.
Child marriage can be found accross the globe, but it is most pervasive in Africa. In West Africa, early marriage affects a staggering 49 per cent of girls under 19. Where polygamy is practiced, young brides are often taken as a second or third wife. For the elderly rich, wedding yet another young wife is a display of wealth and prestige.
Poverty is one of the major factors that encourages child marriages (…). Many families also see early marriage as a way to ensure that girls are virgins when they marry. (…) Child marriage devastates the psychological and physical well-being of young girls. Many suffer emotional trauma from the shock of leaving home and being forced into a relationship too early. And when an adolescent becomes a mother, her health and that of her child are threatened. Teenage girls over 15 years of age are twices as likely to die from child-birth as women in their 20s, while girls under 15 are at five times greater risk.Complications such as heavy bleeding, infection, anemia, and eclampsia (pregnancy-related convulsion) can all be fatal (…).
Early marriage also means girls lose out on schooling and have few employement options, thus perpetuating circumstances that disadvantage girls. Up to 36 million girls in sub-Saharan Africa don’t attend school, many because of early marriage. While boys and girls begin firt grade in equal numbers, within the next three years 50 per cent of the femal pupils have dropped out. Only 34 per cent of girls complete primary school (…). » .