Mauritanian president orders food stockpiling

Mauritanian President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi ordered villages to stockpile food to help cushion the effect of rising inflation, his economic adviser said on Thursday.

The announcement came just days after the latest unrest over the crisis.

About six thousand tonnes of wheat had already been put aside for the stocks as part of a bid to stabilise prices, said Sidi Mohamed Ould Biye.

The announcement after a series of violent protests since last week over spiralling prices have left one person dead and 17 injured.

On Monday, protestors vandalised and torched stores in the central northern town of Zouerate.

The authorities have already begun distributing thousands of tonnes of food and other essential commodities to the poor in a bid to soften the effect of the price rises.

But opposition politicians have said the measures were not enough.

Authorities in the desolate north-western African nation have largely blamed soaring oil prices for the cost hike in basic foods and goods. - Sapa-AFP