This article, extracted from an Implementation Completion Report, centers on the Mauritania Natural Resources Management Project ( Projet de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles en Zones Pluviales - PGRNP ) ( 1998-2003 ), which had two specific objectives : 1) empowering rural communities, i.e., providing skills to organize and manage common resources, and obtain access to financing
and (2) improving the institutional environment in the rural sector, including securing access to natural resources. Lessons learned from this project including the need for a critical mass of investment activities in communities and adequate time to build community capacity
transparent, well-publicized procedures to neutralize political interference and cornering by the elite
baseline data and a functional monitoring and evaluation system
decentralized project management
and using mass media communications.