RESEARCH ON AGRICULTURE AND FOOD IN MAURITANIA: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS.

The transition towards sustainable agriculture and food systems is necessary to address many challenges, such as food insecurity, climate change, and poverty. Research is highly needed to bring about such a transition. However, comprehensive analyses of the research landscape are often lacking, especially in developing countries. In this context, the present review provides a bibliometric analysis of the scholarly literature addressing agriculture and food in Mauritania. It draws upon a systematic review of 44 eligible articles retrieved through a search performed in June 2023 on the Web of Science. The analysis underscores many weaknesses of the research field: the annual output of articles is low; it focuses on environmental sciences to the detriment of social sciences and economics; more than three-quarters of the selected papers, despite dealing with Mauritania, do not involve any Mauritanian scholars; many of the prominent organisations are based outside Mauritania, especially in Europe, North America, and Oceania; the top ten affiliations include only two Mauritanian organisations; the most relevant funding agencies are based abroad; it focuses on crop production agriculture subsector and production stage of the food chain. However, there has been an increase in the number of publications, which might suggest an increase in interest in research on agri-food, and the research field is multidisciplinary. Promoting agri-food research is crucial to address the multiple challenges that Mauritania faces and facilitate the transition towards sustainable and resilient agri-food systems. Research in the field is also essential to unlock the potential of the agri-food sector in Mauritania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]