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DNP handicrafts

Crafts and gathering, among the different socio-economic activities in the park – fishing, breeding, market gardening, crafts/gathering –, liven up the daily lives of more than 300 women divided into 16 cooperatives. The picking activity allows, among other things, to harvest the famous stems of Sporobolus robustus, used for making traditional Mauritanian mats. Highly sought after for their nutritional properties, the seeds of water lilies are prepared and consumed in food in the form of couscous or in rice, or transformed into flour. We can also cite the recent introduction of the manufacture of local soap based on species present in the PND.

The making of traditional mats

At the Diawling, mats are traditionally made from stems of Sporobolus robustus picked in the park. Authorized from January, the picking of Sporobolus only really takes place from the end of April to the beginning of May, because the ponds must be completely dried out to easily access all the picking areas. The cooperatives thus proceed, by hand, to the picking of the Sporobolus necessary for the entire year (only one picking period per year); after picking, the stems of the plant are dried for 10 to 15 days (on the roofs of homes to protect them from animals), and stored until mats are made.
 
After picking and drying, the stems are pruned for straight elements of the same size, which will constitute the width, and cleaned of all traces of budding so that they are perfectly smooth; this step takes 3 to 5 days.
 
To make the mats, the women then connect using a large needle (called lichffé) stems of Sporobolus and strips of tanned leather (manufacture of leather tanned in the park area from skins and pods ofAcacia nilotica, or purchase of leather already tanned in Nouakchott), sometimes tinted with coloring powders (also purchased in Nouakchott), most often red, green or yellow. These leather strips are moistened with water so that they are sufficiently softened to allow the weaving of the mat. A very sharp knife (echira ou el moss) is required for manufacturing, in order to cut the skins, trim the stems and cut the rest of the leather flush once the mat is finished.
Craftswoman
Stems of Sporobolus after picking
Pattern of a mat
Twize
Weaving mats
Twize
Each mat is made by a group of women (called twize) of the same cooperative. The principle of twize is based on mutual aid, since each woman undertakes to help make the mats. The women then sit next to each other along the length of the mat, and they weave together and parallel the width.

The number of women needed varies depending on the length of the mat, and the time needed to make it depends on the overall size and complexity of it. ; this can vary from 2 women mobilized for 2 days for a simple mat (also called light mat or white mat) measuring 1m by 1m, to more than 10 women for 2 weeks for mats several meters long (some mats are 2 , 3, 4 meters long or more!) with dense and complex patterns.

Perpetuating gathering and craft activities in the PND: a vector of cultural conservation

The making of the mats presents a very high degree of authenticity ; the principles of gathering and making implemented by the women ensure conservation of customs and know-how characteristic of the lower delta. The women who weave these mats perpetuate this tradition by using the same materials as in the past, such as goat or cow skins tanned with the bark and fruits ofacacia nilotica
Mat pattern
Picked water lily fruit
“Water lily apples” after picking
Shelling water lily fruits to collect the seeds, located inside

Water lily seeds

The water lilies are harvested each year by women's cooperatives, from the end of October or the beginning of November to January-February. These harvests are quite abundant, making it possible to produce 350 to 600 kg of water lily seeds (knowing that one kg of water lily head = 150 grams of marketable seeds).

Following this harvest, women take care of the processing of these seeds, which requires 12 or 13 precise steps to arrive at the finished product, ready to be marketed (water lily seeds or flour)! All of these stages require approximately 6 to 7 days of full work, but this can actually be spread over a period of 1 to 2 months (rest time required between certain stages, or no capacity in terms of people, time and physical effort required to complete it in less time). We count 12 cooperatives operating in the picking and processing of water lilies, with an average of 22 or 23 active women per cooperative.

Water Lily Seed Packet

A healthy, natural and artisanal product

  • A product rich in fiber, minerals and vitamins
  • A product low in sugar, perfect for a healthy diet (suitable and recommended for people with diabetes)
  • A product to consume alone, as in couscous, or mixed with rice ; cooking in water

Handmade soaps made from local species

The production of artisanal soaps was recently introduced to the PND (since July or August 2021 only). Determined, hardworking and enterprising, producer Khadijettou Moussa Ba followed training in Senegal on soap production, and had the idea of ​​setting up some in her village, in Sbeikha Bariel to the PND, by creating a dedicated women's cooperative.

  • A product handcrafted from plant extracts from the cooperative's village area : neem leaves (Azadirachta indicates), lemon leaves, balsamite cucumber leaves (momordica balsamina), branches of euphorbia (Euphorbia balsamifera)
  • A product with many benefits for the skin : Neem is traditionally used in Ayurveda for its antifungal and antibacterial properties. Balsamite cucumber is known for skin disorders, and euphorbia as an antiseptic and healing.
  • A composition clean and natural : water, sodium hydroxide, cooking oil, olive oil, neem extracts (Azadirachta indicates), lemon, cucumber balsamite (Momordica balsamina), euphorbia (Euphorbia balsamifera). And that's all !
  • A product that supports an initiative that contributes to the empowerment of women, and local development
Handmade soap
Stock of soaps at the cooperative