THE RIGHT TO FOOD
right to food. In the wake of the World Food Crisis in 2008, the Government of Mauritius established a Food Security Fund to enhance local food production. Under this fund, schemes and incentives such as grants and loan facilities were put in place to encourage small farmers to engage in food production activities.
A sum of around USD 300m was provided under the Food Security Fund to cover inter alia the costs of land preparation works, construction of model farms, acquisition of modern farm equipment, irrigation facilities, rainwater harvesting systems, sheltered farming techniques and importation of improved animal breeds for reproduction.
To boost the production of food crops and livestock production, the Government has since 2009 leased around 300 ha of state
lands to the farming community. Land preparation works including derocking, fine-derocking, farm roads, drilling of boreholes, in-field drainage systems, utilities and other land infrastructure facilities were provided to the farming community. To address the problem of climate change, adverse climatic conditions and the increased incidence of pests and diseases, cultivation under greenhouses has been encouraged and promoted. It is a fact that cultivation under sheltered structures offer enormous advantages as opposed to outdoor or open field agriculture, considering the fact that it allows better control over a number of parameters such as light, temperature and humidity, whilst at the same time offering a certain degree of protection against entry of pests, weeds and diseases. It also limits the use of chemical inputs which are otherwise used excessively to control infestations
in common traditional outdoor cultivation systems.
To this end, a Sheltered Farming Scheme and a Crop Nursery/ Curing Scheme have been put in place to encourage farmers to shift from traditional methods of crop production. Grants of up to maximum of USD 8,000 are given to farmers to adopt this modern system of production.
To encourage the sustainable production of meat, a Calf Productivity Incentive Scheme was put in place. Under this Scheme a cash incentive of USD 100 is given to breeders whose
“Despite, the progress achieved by humanity, we continue to struggle to meet this basic need of mankind. ”
calf has reached an age of 3 months and above. Through the Pasture Development Scheme, breeders are encouraged to plant their own fodder and to decrease their reliance on costly imported animal feed.
Milk is an important basic food commodity consumed by almost the whole population. Supply of this commodity is heavily dependent on imports and subject to frequent fluctuations in prices on the world market. To raise local production capacity and ensure availability of this item, farmers have been encouraged to modernize their dairy farms.
Moreover, model dairy farms have been set up to showcase modern technologies and practices to optimize dairy production. The Government has facilitated access to capital by providing grants and loans at low interest rates with a moratorium
The Parliamentarian | 2015: Issue Two | 91
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76