Food Security Challenges in Mauritius: Insights from Assoc Prof Brinda Ramasawmy Molaye

Associate Professor Brinda Ramasawmy Molaye

On May 2, 2025, the Mauritian Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) aired an insightful program addressing one of the most pressing issues facing Mauritius today — food security. Hosted by journalist Mr. Iswar Gunnoo, this episode of "19 Minutes Le Point" featured among the key speakers Associate Professor Brinda Ramasawmy Molaye, from the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Mauritius. Her insights shed light on the current vulnerabilities of the Mauritian food system, as well as opportunities to build resilience and self-sufficiency.  

The video can be viewed here

I. Food Security and Challenges in Mauritius

This blog post summarises a discussion with Associate Professor Brinda Ramasawmt Molaye of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Mauritius, focusing on food security challenges in Mauritius. The discussion highlights that food security is a complex issue extending beyond simple availability, encompassing accessibility (physical and financial), utilization, and stability. Mauritius faces significant challenges due to high import dependence (77% of food products, 19% of total imports in 2023), which makes the country vulnerable to geopolitical events, economic crises (inflation at 7% contributing to 23% vulnerability), and climate change impacts. The discussion emphasizes the need for increased local production, diversification of sources, improved infrastructure, educational initiatives, and a collective, multi-sectoral approach to enhance food security and promote sustainable, healthy diets, particularly for vulnerable populations like children. This blog post summarises key takeaways from the interview to better understand and address food security challenges in Mauritius. 

II. Key Themes and Ideas:

A. Defining Food Security:

• Food security is defined by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) based on four interconnected pillars:
• Availability: Sufficient food must be physically present.
• Accessibility: People must have physical and financial access to food.
• Utilization: Food must be prepared safely and hygienically, with access to clean water, and a diverse range of foods available. Health is also a parallel factor.
• Stability: Access to food must be consistent over time, even during economic or climate crises.
• Two recently added dimensions to food security are:
• Agency: The consumer's ability to make informed choices about their food, how it is produced, and to influence agricultural policy.
• Sustainability: The production system must be durable and ensure healthy food is available for current and future generations.

B. Challenges to Food Security in Mauritius:

• High Import Dependence: Mauritius imports 77% of its food products. In 2023, food imports represented 19% of all imports, valued at 54 billion euros. This high dependence makes the country highly vulnerable to external shocks.
• Vulnerability to Geopolitical and Economic Crises: Crises like the one currently experienced directly impact food costs.
• Inflation and Accessibility: 7% inflation contributes to 23% of the population being vulnerable to food insecurity, particularly impacting financial accessibility as the consumer basket becomes less affordable.
• Vulnerability to Climate Change: The country is also highly vulnerable to climatic hazards like cyclones, floods, and droughts, which affect local production. These events also impact production in the countries from which Mauritius imports, further contributing to vulnerability
• Dependence on Imports for Animal Production: Mauritius is over 90% dependent on imported inputs for animal production, like chicken production.
• Lack of Regional Integration: Despite historical potential as a regional food hub (Madagascar mentioned as the "granary of the Indian Ocean"), regional trade has not fully materialized for various reasons, leading to imports from distant countries.

C. Initiatives and Recommendations:

• Increasing Local Production: Efforts should focus on boosting local agricultural production.Mention of increasing local production percentage is key, though full self-sufficiency in all sectors is considered difficult.
• Promoting Agroecology and Sustainable Practices: The FALCON association is mentioned for its work in environmentally respectful agriculture, soil and biodiversity preservation, and promoting agroecology.
• Fighting Food Waste: The FALCON association has an initiative to combat food waste and promote food security through meal distribution in schools and food transformation.
• Education and Training: Offering agricultural training programs, particularly for young people, in areas like vegetable cultivation, urban agriculture, and composting.
• Diversification of Import Sources: Regional collaboration is seen as potentially beneficial. While Mauritius currently imports heavily from distant continental countries, exploring opportunities within the region, potentially with countries like Madagascar (historically referred to as the "granary of the Indian Ocean"), could be valuable, although past efforts have not fully materialised.
•  A regional project is currently underway, initiated by CIRAD (a French international agricultural research center) based in Reunion. This project, called ITALIQ (Innovation Technologique et Organisationnelle pour des Aliments de Qualité), is funded by the European Union and involves Mauritius, Reunion, Madagascar, and the Comoros. The project aims to target quality food for communities, specifically focusing on school catering and children. More Details is provided at the end of the post.
• The focus on children is because it's important to educate them about healthy, balanced foods from a very young age. The project involves a diagnosis of the current situation in schools, finding that only certain schools currently offer hot or cold meals. The goal is to potentially set up a pilot project to extend school catering to all children. This requires collaboration among stakeholders like the Ministry of Education, private companies, and NGOs. Providing children with healthy, balanced food is seen as crucial for their health and the future health and progress of the nation.
• Focus on Healthy and Local Food: There is also an emphasis on promoting local produce. Enjoying seasonal fruits like guavas, mangoes, or pineapples is encouraged. Local produce is seen as having potential benefits, such as potentially fewer pesticides or insecticides used compared to imported produce. The supply circuit for local products is also shorter. Promoting local products like fresh liquid milk, even if production volume is currently small, is also considered potentially valuable for school distribution.
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   Addressing Water Scarcity and Sustainable Farming: Challenges remain, such as managing resources like water, especially with climate change. Implementing water-efficient farming techniques like hydroponics and potentially advanced systems that recycle water and smart farming are viewed as technologies that can address water scarcity and optimize production.
• Multi-Sectoral Collaboration: Emphasizing the need for collaboration between different sectors (education, agriculture, health) and stakeholders (farmers, vendors, cantines, parents, institutions) to address food security effectively.
• The Right to Adequate Food: Highlighting that the right to adequate food is a universal human right (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948), implying economic and continuous access.
• Collective Responsibility: Food security is a collective responsibility involving institutions, participants in the food chain, and individuals through actions like growing some food themselves.
• Several local actors contribute to the food supply chain. Les Moulins de la Concorde plays a role in ensuring food security by milling wheat into flour. They have storage capacity for 40,000 tonnes of wheat across 16 silos, representing about 3.5 months of consumption, helping to ensure a regular supply of flour even during crises.
• Avipro is a key player in the chicken production chain for local consumption, producing around 43,000 tonnes annually, contributing to local protein supply.
  
  
  
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• Dairy Sector: While local milk production is small, it is seen as a high-quality fresh product that could potentially be distributed in schools.

IV. Implications:

The discussion highlights the critical need for Mauritius to move towards greater food sovereignty by reducing import dependence and increasing local, sustainable production. This requires coordinated efforts across government, industry, civil society, and individuals. Investing in agricultural training, infrastructure, and promoting healthy diets from a young age are crucial for long-term food security and public health. The vulnerability to external shocks underscores the urgency of these actions.

V. Next Steps/Considerations:

• Further research and analysis on specific strategies for increasing local production and diversifying food sources.
• Development and implementation of targeted policies to support sustainable agriculture and reduce reliance on imported inputs.
• Expansion of educational programs on healthy eating and sustainable food practices.
• Strengthening regional cooperation on food security initiatives.
• Exploring innovative farming methods to address resource constraints and climate change impacts.
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• Brief on ITALIQ Project:Ce projet régional Interreg ITALIQ (Innovations technologiques et organisationnelles pour des aliments de qualité), qui vise à améliorer la sécurité alimentaire dans les États insulaires du sud-ouest de l'océan Indien, en favorisant la disponibilité d’aliments variés de qualité (sanitaire, nutritionnelle et organoleptique) sur les marchés locaux et régionaux, tout en valorisant la diversité des cultures vivrières locales.
  
  L'étude a démarré en avril 2025 par le cas de Maurice, sur la sous-action 3 qui porte sur la restauration scolaire dans l’océan Indien et vise aussi la Réunion, Maurice, Madagascar et Mayotte.
  
  L'équipe de chercheurs est composée du côté de l'UoM, du Dr Brinda Ramasawmy Molaye et de Hansley Hurnam (Trainee Project Assistant), et du côté du CIRAD, du Dr Hélène David-Benz et d'Antoine Sluysmans du CIRAD. Ce projet d'une durée de 3 ans est financé par l'Union Européenne.
  La distribution de repas ou de collations étant loin d’être systématique à Maurice, les chercheurs s'intéressent aux différentes initiatives, que l’on peut considérer comme innovantes, portées par l’éducation nationale, l’enseignement privé, les associations ou ONG. L’objectif est de caractériser les différentes formes de distribution alimentaire dans les établissements scolaires (primaire et secondaire), leurs modes de fonctionnement et contraintes, avec un regard porté en particulier sur l’approvisionnement et les potentiels / freins / leviers pour un approvisionnement en produits locaux.