FAO - Country Programne Framework for Mauritius 2014-2017

The Country Programming Framework (CPF) for Mauritius for the period 2014-2019 which establishes the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) support to Mauritius in agri-business development and agro value chain, promotion of sustainable agriculture for food security, and sustainable fisheries, amongst others, was signed on 17 June 2014 in Port Louis.

The signatories were the Minister of Agro Industry and Food Security, Attorney General, Mr Satya Veyash Faugoo, and the FAO representative accredited to the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles, Mr Patrice Talla Takoukam.

The Framework sets out priorities for collaboration in the fields of agri-business development with focus on the strengthening of the enabling environment, as well as strategies, legal and management frameworks and institutional capacities for selected strategic value chains.

It also addresses the issue of sustainable agriculture for food security with focus on the strengthening of the enabling institutional environment related to land use management, early warning system for animal and plant diseases and pests, and agricultural statistics for improved evidence based decision making.

The Framework also deals with sustainable fisheries with focus on improving the enabling environment, policies and legal framework and institutional capacities for the promotion of sustainable aquaculture and off-lagoon fisheries.

In his address, Minister Faugoo underlined that Mauritius has indicated the most crucial areas of potential FAO’s assistance through setting clear priorities and areas of cooperation. The CPF, he recalled, addresses issues related to food and nutrition security, agricultural productivity and sustainable natural resource management, resilience of livelihoods to threats.

FAO is also providing support to Government for the conduct of the Census of Agriculture, stated the Minister, adding that the last census on agriculture was carried out in 1940. The aim of carrying out such a census is to strengthen the capacity of Government to develop a sustainable Food and Agriculture Statistics System so that planning and policy decision-making are based on timely and reliable data. The project which will kick off in July this year, will be executed jointly by Statistics Mauritius and the Ministry of Agro Industry and Food Security.

For his part, Mr Takoukam said that the collaboration between FAO and Mauritius is geared towards ensuring food security. He also stressed that the Government of Mauritius should be in the driving seat regarding the implementation of the priorities listed out in the CPF. FAO is here to provide technical assistance and to some extent, funding to Mauritius, he added. 

The CPF can also be used as a fund raising document since the Government of Mauritius can use it when seeking the collaboration of and funding from other international institutions for the implementation of these priorities, said Mr Takoukam. 

Source: GIS, Mauritius, 2014

“As you are all aware, we have a very privileged relationship with FAO. Infact, Mauritius is a member of the FAO since 1968, the year that Mauritus acceded to independence and has over the years benefited from several technical assistance programmes to implement several projects in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors”, a fait remarquer le ministre de l’Agro-industrie à cette occasion. Il a aussi déclaré que la FAO a accordé une assistance technique à Maurice pour effectuer un recensement dans le secteur de l’agriculture. “In fact, the last census of agriculture dates back to 1940 that is more than 70 years. The census has already been planned with the assistance of FAO in 2012 and the census will now be carried out as from July 2014 by Statistics of Mauritius”, a-t-il déclaré. Source Le Matinal, 2014.