Madame Chairperson
The President of IFAD
Distinguished Governors and Heads of Delegation
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is my privilege to be present at the 24th Session of the Governing Council of IFAD and to address this august gathering for the first time. Let me convey to you the warm greetings of the Government and the people of the Republic of Mauritius.

Mr. Chairman, the first and foremost role of agriculture remains the production of food and other primary goods contributing to food security. Attaining food security is a complex task which requires an enabling environment and policies that ensure social, cultural, political and economic stability and equity. Combining the economic, social, and environmental functions of agriculture can help to achieve these goals and contribute to economic growth.

In Mauritius we have always stressed on the important position occupied by agriculture in our national economy and as a source of stable revenue for the country. Revenue from agriculture, particularly sugar has in fact contributed to a large extent in the upliftment of other sectors like health, tourism, housing and education, which are important yardsticks for measuring the welfare of the Mauritian nation.

I wish to place on record the vital role played by IFAD in the agricultural sector in Mauritius which in turn has contributed to the economic and social development of the country. IFAD, in collaboration with the FAO, UNDP and World Bank has always endeavoured to promote agricultural development and co-operation among member states and to combat problems specific to these countries so as to improve the living conditions of their people.

IFAD has been a major source of foreign aid to Mauritius, since the early mid eighties, when it started financing rural development programmes for the development of the Small Planting Community. Though the assistance in certain areas did not really benefit the targetted groups yet it met its objectives by providing improved amenities to villages, better distribution of irrigation water and improved vegetable and horticultural production.

It is a fact that despite our limited land size and land resources, we have managed to achieve a certain degree of success in various fields due to appropriate investments, structural adjustments, timely diversification in growing sectors, adaptation to the new and ever changing international order and above all political stability and the determination of the Mauritian Nation. As many other Small Island Developing States Mauritius is a very vulnerable country prone to the vagaries of weather, especially cyclones and drought. From an international perspective, the constant change in the global economic environment makes it difficult for the economies of these Small States to coop with harsher competition and to move to a higher stage of development, hence the need for these States to have access to the concessional loan from the World Bank.

In any developing country, agriculture remains central to the economy as a source of goods for national consumption and processing and for trade, as raw materials and finished goods. Besides, the employment of a large section of the population is also tied mainly to agricultural activities. Thus, whenever a natural calamity hits the country, it is detrimental to the national economy and Mauritius is no exception to the rule; hence our dependence on foreign aid and cheap loans to strengthen the resources of the farming and rural community so that they can arm themselves against climatic and other set-back.

Moreover, like many other Small Island Developing States Mauritius is not a producer of chemical inputs, raw materials or agricultural implements and relies heavily on imports. Despite all the willingness of the Government, there are still certain imbalances in income distribution, and resources endowment. Pockets of poverty still exist especially in the rural areas, which comprise mainly of farmers, fishermen and housewives. The Government of Mauritius is conscious of the situation and has outlined plans to create an environment conducive enough to boost employment, production and income generation in these regions. The political will is there Madame Chairperson and the new Government, which took the reins of power in September last, has started taking bold measures in these directions and the results are already forthcoming.

It is in this context that we welcome the rural diversification programme which is being undertaken with financial assistance from IFAD. The cost of the programme is 16.6 million US dollars of which 11.12M USD is a loan from IFAD and the rest is financed by the Government of Mauritius. The goal of the Rural Development Programme is to support the Government’s comprehensive poverty alleviation strategy to stimulate diversified and sustainable economic development for low income households. As such, under the programme we aim at improving the socio-economic status of farmers by way of irrigation, extension efforts and improved technology package for non-sugar crops. Moreover, the Fishing Community will benefit from training and the provision of fishing aggregating devices to boost daily catches of fish and provision of credit for purchase of boat and equipment. Another component of this project aims

at community development and financing of micro projects. Several informal micro enterprises will be created in the rural areas to boost self-employment and improve rural income generation particularly among women.

Madame Chairperson, as I said earlier, with the political will and the determination of the beneficiaries and with IFAD’s assistance the Rural Diversification Project is bound to succeed.

Mauritius relies a lot on IFAD and we expect further assistance in the future especially in the irrigation Sector. The provision of irrigation facilities to our Planting Community, especially in the rural areas calls for huge investments in terms of infrastructure and equipment. We cannot meet this objective if we do not obtain external aid in terms of cheap loan to supplement our local financial resources. But we are also committed to ensure that IFAD has adequate resources to fulfill the pledge it has taken to uplift the living conditions of its members. It is in this spirit that Mauritius responded favorably to a request from the President for Financial contribution to the fifth replenishment. I am glad to say that Mauritius has already fulfilled its obligation.

To conclude Madame Chairperson, I would like to thank the Outgoing President for the very able way in which he has led the affairs of IFAD and helped in easing human suffering in many parts of the world. I wish plenty of success to the future President and I would like to assure him of our full support, I am confident that he will have the capacity to mobilize international solidarity for the poor.

Thank you.

Statement of Hon. P. K. Jugnauth, Minister of Agriculture, Food Technology and Natural Resources