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Change, produce or perish
- By Raghav Ramful
- Published 30th May, 2008
- Society
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This sudden stand adopted by these countries, though probably not really an overnight move, has taken many other countries by surprise for the simple reason that they were not prepared to cope with the new situation. And all the fingers tend to point towards a drastic climate change which is beyond our control. What next? Scientists and other experts have already predicted worst case scenarios of climate change on food reserves and the alarm bell now resounds on a global scale.
As a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), Mauritius is more vulnerable to external shocks compared to other countries. Our heavy dependence on food imports and the fact that these have to be shipped from long distances weighs heavily on our expenses. The sky-rocketing price of petrol on the global market does not help either. There is no short-term solution to this problem. It is too late to say that we should have thought about it earlier and grown our own rice and wheat. However, for the long term, there’s many a solution to tackle the situation and the success of these plans that have been unveiled so far depends on how swift we are to implement them.
We all know that it would not be viable and profitable to grow rice and wheat in Mauritius because vast areas of land will have to be freed for that purpose and this is not possible in practice. However, there is scope to do so in neighbouring countries like Madagascar and Mozambique. With the Food Security Policy presented by Agro Industry Minister, Arvin Boolell, we might save our skin from the
food crisis awaiting us. The policy which lays emphasis on rice, potatoes and maize, for which special agricultural zones have already been identified by Madagascar might do the trick.
On the other hand, if Mauritian entrepreneurs explore possibilities to shift supply of maize and rice from Argentina and Asia while also adopting a prudent policy for the production of potato in Madagascar to attain self sufficiency for Mauritius, we stand better chances. However, as time is against us, if we are not swift enough to land in these two countries to initiate this plan, others countries will do so. Actions are presumably ongoing at the highest political level for strengthening cooperation in the agricultural sector between Mauritius and the two countries.
It is expected that a robust, bankable and implementable action plan for 2009/2013 would be formulated by the end of July 2008 which would enable Mauritian entrepreneurs to move easily into countries of the region.
Meanwhile, our annual food consumption estimates reach some 690 000 tonnes out of which more than 75% is imported. Mauritius depends a lot on its food imports and last year the cost went up to Rs 23,4 billion. It has to be underlined that some Rs 9,3 billion was spent on rice and flour imports.
On a comparative note, our import costs have almost trobled between 2001 and 2007, that is from Rs 8.4 billion to Rs 21 billion. However, the volume of our imports has remained almost the same at around 500,000 tonnes. The rise in costs has been marked in imports of canned vegetables as the consumption pattern of such products by Mauritians matches those of developed countries.
As a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), Mauritius is more vulnerable to external shocks compared to other countries. Our heavy dependence on food imports and the fact that these have to be shipped from long distances weighs heavily on our expenses. The sky-rocketing price of petrol on the global market does not help either. There is no short-term solution to this problem. It is too late to say that we should have thought about it earlier and grown our own rice and wheat. However, for the long term, there’s many a solution to tackle the situation and the success of these plans that have been unveiled so far depends on how swift we are to implement them.
We all know that it would not be viable and profitable to grow rice and wheat in Mauritius because vast areas of land will have to be freed for that purpose and this is not possible in practice. However, there is scope to do so in neighbouring countries like Madagascar and Mozambique. With the Food Security Policy presented by Agro Industry Minister, Arvin Boolell, we might save our skin from the
On the other hand, if Mauritian entrepreneurs explore possibilities to shift supply of maize and rice from Argentina and Asia while also adopting a prudent policy for the production of potato in Madagascar to attain self sufficiency for Mauritius, we stand better chances. However, as time is against us, if we are not swift enough to land in these two countries to initiate this plan, others countries will do so. Actions are presumably ongoing at the highest political level for strengthening cooperation in the agricultural sector between Mauritius and the two countries.
It is expected that a robust, bankable and implementable action plan for 2009/2013 would be formulated by the end of July 2008 which would enable Mauritian entrepreneurs to move easily into countries of the region.
Meanwhile, our annual food consumption estimates reach some 690 000 tonnes out of which more than 75% is imported. Mauritius depends a lot on its food imports and last year the cost went up to Rs 23,4 billion. It has to be underlined that some Rs 9,3 billion was spent on rice and flour imports.
On a comparative note, our import costs have almost trobled between 2001 and 2007, that is from Rs 8.4 billion to Rs 21 billion. However, the volume of our imports has remained almost the same at around 500,000 tonnes. The rise in costs has been marked in imports of canned vegetables as the consumption pattern of such products by Mauritians matches those of developed countries.
