"This is also about confronting food insecurity that is rife in Mauritania because of the world economic and financial crisis and threatens people's survival," said Japan's ambassador to Nouakchott Hiroshi Azuma, who signed the aid agreement with Mauritania's economy minister Sidi Ould Tah.

In November, the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) announced a drop in cereal production for 2009-2010 in its nine member nations, including Mauritania, due to insufficient rainfall.

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