Republic of Mauritius- Professionals and experts reflect on recommendations and policies for a prosperous agricultural sector

The Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Mr Mahen Seeruttun, the Minister of Business, Enterprise and Cooperatives, Mr Soomilduth Bholah, and the Chairman of the EDB, Mr Charles Cartier, were present for the opening ceremony.

In his address, Minister Seeruttun underlined the strategic importance of the agricultural sector in terms of food security, provision of employment opportunities and maintaining socio-economic stability. The future of agriculture, he emphasised, is still bright provided that appropriate policies and an apt framework are developed to enable operators to produce more, to export additional value-added products, and to attract domestic and foreign investment. 

Government, he said, is determined to ensure that agro-industry becomes a strong, resilient and competitive pillar for the Mauritian economy and at the same time, support businesses and agro-entrepreneurs. In this endeavour, two guiding principles namely economic resilience and the need to adopt smarter technologies in agriculture were highlighted in the previous Budget, he added.

Mr Seeruttun pointed out that a plethora of schemes such as the Compost Subsidy Scheme, Sheltered Farming Scheme, and Bio-Farming Promotion Scheme have been introduced over the last few years so as to enhance the attractiveness of agriculture among existing and aspiring agro-entrepreneurs. He highlighted that the Crop Loss Compensation Scheme has also been introduced by the Small Farmers Welfare Fund to provide comfort to planters who have a hard time dealing with the aftermath impacts of natural disasters and climate change.

Speaking about the workshop, the Agro-Industry Minister observed that it is part of the various activities which will be organised under the Commission for economic affairs of the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) in collaboration with the EDB. He recalled that the NESC has been set up to ensure that both the economic and social aspects of planning are looked into. The EDB, he underlined, is another building block in the institutional landscape to shape the national planning framework.

For his part, Mr Cartier called for the implementation of bold measures and policies so as to encourage an innovation-driven culture which helps improve the quantity and quality of production. Technology, he emphasised, is a pre-requisite to stir sustainable development in agricultural diversification and shape a new era for agriculture in Mauritius. He also spoke of concepts like Climate-Smart and Urban agriculture which are gaining high importance and urged local stakeholders to collaborate with foreign owners of agri-technology for the development of sustainable agricultural systems.