CABI has pledged its support to Mauritius, one of its oldest Member Countries in Africa since 1986, to help smallholder farmers within its agricultural sector reduce poverty and increase food security for its 1.3 million residents.
Scientists from CABI’s regional centre for Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, met with colleagues from the Mauritius government, private sector, academia, NGOs, and farmer representatives, to identify new opportunities for future collaboration.
Dr Monica Kansiime, Deputy Director, Development and Outreach, Africa, Dr Ivan Rwomushana, Global Lead – Pest Preparedness, and Edith Kouko, Project Development Officer, highlighted how as part of CABI Membership Benefits, CABI can support a broad range of stakeholders in Mauritius to access information and knowledge, technology transfer, plant health, capacity building, digital development, access nature-based pest control solutions, and south-south cooperation.
Increase awareness and the reach of CABI membership benefits
The visit, which included a workshop and field trip, came as CABI particularly sought to increase awareness and the reach of CABI membership benefits, which include advisory support, projects, products and services, strengthen partnerships with stakeholders in the agrifood sector, and develop new project ideas with national stakeholders relevant to the country.
Such membership benefits comprise strategic advisory support including the development of joint policy papers, concept notes or project proposals and scoping studies – and access to CABI’s flagship knowledge products such as the world-renowned CAB Abstracts and Global Health databases as well as the CABI BioProtection Portal, the Pest Risk Analysis Tool and many more relating to CABI’s scientific expertise, products and resources.
The chief guest at the workshop was Mr Satydanand Aujeet, Supervising Officer, Ministry of Agro-industry and Food Security.
Mauritius is a small island and developing state where agriculture contributes 3.6% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The country has encouraged a move from dependency on sugar cane to diversification into fruits, vegetables and other staples to enhance food security. Nearly 80% of local food consumed is imported but the country is 100% self sufficient in poultry.
Understanding the local agricultural context of both small and large-scale farmers
Dr Kansiime said, “A field visit was undertaken to understand the local agricultural context of both small and large-scale farmers and how they are impacted by potentially devastating crop pests and diseases. In addition, a visit to the sterilise insect technique (SIT) laboratory and a facility for packaging insect pheromones showed was done to see how some of the technologies the country has deployed to mitigate these threats.
“The participants of the workshop, which brought the visit to a close, prioritised potential areas of collaboration between CABI and the Mauritian government, aligned to key CABI themes and the country’s agriculture sector strategy.”
CABI staff join colleagues from Mauritius during a farm visit in St Auben.
The CABI scientists learnt that while there are no effective approaches for the management of invasive species – especially plants including Chinese guava and water hyacinth which are of economic importance – the government is encouraging the use of biological products to manage such plant pests and potential new invasives. Important pests include potato bacterial wilt, tomato leaf miner, invasive weeds and some quarantine pests.
Dr Preeaduth Sookar, Assistant Director of Agricultural Services and Officer in Charge for the Crop and Agri-food sector, added that possible collaboration areas projects especially around pesticide risk reductions, seed systems, managing invasive species, pest preparedness and early warning systems were of strategic importance and CABI collaboration could provide the expertise needed.
“Joint proposal development on the key identified thematic areas; sustainable pest management, pesticide risk reduction, seed systems development and biodiversity, and climate-smart agriculture is crtical,” he said.
Other areas of focus and gaps identified included the need to increase youth engagement in agriculture through innovations such as the use of digital technologies and precision agriculture.
Dr Sooker added, “Ensuring sustainable production systems, traceability and certification of produce. Provision of incentives for use of biofertilisers and biopesticdes, and adoption of affordable certification schemes is also important for Mauritius’ agriculture industry.”
Additional information
Main image: Participants at the workshop held to help highlight how CABI can assist Mauritius in technology transfer, plant health, capacity building, digital development, access to nature-based pest control solutions, and south-south cooperation.
Relevant story
Press coverage
See also an article in the Mauritius newspaper Le Maricien about the CABI visit and use of the Pest Risk Analysis Tool and a report on MBC TV (13 mins 32 seconds into the programme).
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