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Mauritians also competing for land in Africa
Mauritius
Tuesday 03 March 2009
Soaring food prices and lack of land have forced Mauritius, a net food importing country, to launch an ambitious initiative. The island state is starting to grow its food in other African states where land is lying fallow and labour is cheap.
Mauritian agro-entrepreneurs Murveen Ragobur and Gansham Boodhram are back from Mozambique where they cultivated rice on a trial basis last year, as well as potatoes and onions for the local market.
They have been working in the southern African country for some years after launching Greenworld Ltd, their agro-enterprise which produces food for Mauritius and other countries in the region.
Mauritius produces vegetables but no wheat or rice. It tops up its production of potato, onion and garlic with annual imports.
‘‘We all need to go to Mozambique because we lack land and labour here. In Mozambique, you hire people very easily,’’ Ragobur told IPS. Plenty of land that belongs to the state is also easily available, according to him, and it is not sold to anybody. One can get a lease for a renewable 50-year period.
Land is limited in Mauritius, an island of about 2,000 sq km with a population of 1.2 million people. It presently produces only 25 percent of the 700,000 tons of food products it needs annually for locals and the millions of tourists who visit the island annually.
Mauritian agro-entrepreneurs Murveen Ragobur and Gansham Boodhram are back from Mozambique where they cultivated rice on a trial basis last year, as well as potatoes and onions for the local market.
They have been working in the southern African country for some years after launching Greenworld Ltd, their agro-enterprise which produces food for Mauritius and other countries in the region.
Mauritius produces vegetables but no wheat or rice. It tops up its production of potato, onion and garlic with annual imports.
‘‘We all need to go to Mozambique because we lack land and labour here. In Mozambique, you hire people very easily,’’ Ragobur told IPS. Plenty of land that belongs to the state is also easily available, according to him, and it is not sold to anybody. One can get a lease for a renewable 50-year period.
Land is limited in Mauritius, an island of about 2,000 sq km with a population of 1.2 million people. It presently produces only 25 percent of the 700,000 tons of food products it needs annually for locals and the millions of tourists who visit the island annually.
