Where Every Meal Is a Sacrifice

But it turned out that globalization did not really work for food. Countries, especially rich ones, felt compelled to continue protecting their farmers and their domestic food supply even as they pushed for trade liberalization for manufactured goods. It distorted the market, which didn't adjust as global demand surged and production flagged.

Not foreseeing that scenario, Mauritania's government abandoned long-standing policies of fixed food prices in the 1990s. But it also gave up on large-scale efforts to boost agricultural production, shifting resources to iron ore mining and other industries.

The last big agricultural push here -- an internationally backed effort to grow irrigated crops in the country's south -- failed more than 15 years ago, officials say, because money went to businessmen rather than farmers. They lacked the motivation and know-how required for large-scale cultivation. "The fields have been abandoned since then and are sitting there with weeds in disrepair," said Ahmeda Quld Mohamed Ahmed with the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization office in Mauritania. "It wasn't really a national priority."

It has become one now, with the new, democratically elected government that came to power last year seeking to avoid a repeat of November food riots that led to one death and the burning and looting of storefronts. The government is pressing a major new irrigation program in the south with the ambitious goal of doubling agricultural production by year's end. "This is the government's number one priority," said Prime Minister Zeine Ould Zeidane.

Mauritania knows it must bear more of its own food burden. All around, food-producing countries are barring the doors to foreign trade. Argentina raised soybean and sunflower export taxes to as much as 44 percent. Russia has quadrupled wheat-export taxes to 40 percent. Kazakhstan, one of the world's biggest wheat exporters, halted foreign sales altogether. Rice prices shot to a record high after Indonesia stopped its farmers from selling the grain abroad.

At the same time, import-dependent countries that can afford the higher prices are hoarding. Wealthy Singapore is stockpiling rice. Malaysia is creating a new government agency to stockpile foodstuffs. Many countries, including Mauritania, have dropped long-standing import taxes to facilitate trade and lower prices at home. But with global supplies running short, the measures have had limited effect in controlling prices here. Importers in Mauritania, for instance, say they have roughly a 45-day supply of key commodities such as wheat.

"Everyone is out there protecting their own right now," said Joachim von Braun, director general of the District-based International Food Policy Research Institute. "And that isn't the way globalization is meant to work."

Rich Nations Grab Fish

The global competition for food is hitting Mauritania in other ways as well. That can be plainly seen on the Atlantic shores of Nouakchott, where another increasingly scarce food commodity is hauled onto sandy beaches daily in traditional wooden boats: fish.

The catch here has fallen sharply in recent years. Officials concede it is because Mauritania finds itself in a catch-22. Thirty percent of the national budget comes from selling industrial-scale fishing licenses, mostly to European ships, that now harvest the rich waters off Mauritania's coast. While that has given the government a desperately needed source of hard currency, it has also meant less fish in local nets.

Even the best parts of the local haul end up in Europe or Japan, as exporters greet fishermen on the sands just before sunset, bartering for the top-quality fish. The catch is rapidly packed in ice for shipping to London, Paris, New York and Tokyo as local fishmongers, out-priced, look on.

"We see our best-quality fish leaving the country right in front of our eyes every day," said Mame Kato Diop, 36, wrapped in flowing indigo and yellow robes as she and other fishmongers waited for the exporters to finish their deals. They would later buy what was left for resale in town. "They leave us with sardines as they eat juicy fish. We stand no chance against the hunger of richer countries."