REMISE DE JOINT ORGANIC CERTIFICATE: Arvin Boolell plaide pour l’agriculture organique

Intervenant la semaine dernière lors d’une remise de certificats conjointe par le GEF-Small Grants Programme du Programme des Nations unies pour le développement et la Fondation ressources et nature au Labourdonnais Waterfront Hotel au Caudan, le ministre des Affaires étrangères Arvin Boolell a fait un vibrant plaidoyer en faveur de l’agriculture organique à Maurice.

« Je pense que la production alimentaire organique est un créneau dans le secteur de l’agriculture, que Maurice, en tant que Petit état insulaire en développement, peut explorer et exploiter, non seulement pour atteindre notre objectif de sécurité alimentaire, mais surtout pour assurer à nos planteurs une subsistance décente. » C’est ce qu’a lancé le ministre des Affaires étrangères Arvin Boolell lors d’une remise de certificats conjointe par le GEF-Small Grants Programme du Programme des Nations unies pour le développement (PNUD), la Fondation ressources et nature (FORENA) au Labourdonnais Waterfront Hotel au Caudan à Port-Louis.

Le ministre a expliqué que le rapport 2012 du World of Organic Agriculture indique que le secteur de l’alimentation organique a progressé constamment ces dernières années et représente aujourd’hui un marché de plus de 59 milliards de dollars américains annuellement. « Pour les sceptiques, sachez que les petits états comme le Liechtenstein et les Maldives dédient de très larges portions de leurs terres fertiles à la production agricole organique. Ainsi le marché pour les produits alimentaires organiques augmente, et manifestement l’offre prend du retard », a ajouté Arvin Boolell. « J’estime par conséquent que notre part de production d’aliments organiques doit être plus large à l’avenir. »

Arvin Boolell intervenait en présence, entre autres, du UN Resident Coordinator-UNDP Resident Representative Simon Springett, de l’auditeur Gildas Valaharison, représentant de Eco-Cert pour la région Afrique de l’Est et océan Indien, du président de FORENA Manoj Vaghjee, du Dr Dumur, conseiller au ministère de l’Agro-industrie, de Pamela Dundoo-Bappoo, du GEF-Small Grants Programme (SGP) du PNUD et des représentants des quatre ONG qui ont reçu le soutien financier du GEF-SGP-PNUD. Celles-ci sont l’Association des Planteurs de St François, l’Association des Parents d’Enfants Inadaptés de l’île Maurice, la Maison Familiale et Rurale du Nord et l’Union Park Women Association. Ces quatre ONG sont les premières à Maurice à avoir reçu une attestation officielle pour leur production organique (voir encadré).
Le ministre Boolell a félicité les quatre petits planteurs qui ont reçu leur certificat pour leurs légumes, fruits et autres plantes médicinales aux normes européennes.

Une agriculture durable
L’agriculture organique est l’une des nombreuses approches possibles de l'agriculture durable. En fait, beaucoup de ses techniques – par exemple culture mixte, couverture du sol avec des déchets organiques, intégration de l’agriculture et de l’élevage – sont utilisées dans divers systèmes de production agricole. Ce qui lui donne son caractère unique est que, conformément à diverses lois et programmes de certification, presque tous les apports synthétiques sont interdits et des rotations des cultures “permettant la reconstitution du sol” sont obligatoires. Les systèmes d’agriculture organique convenablement gérés permettent de réduire ou d’éliminer la pollution de l’eau et aident à conserver l’eau et le sol sur l’exploitation.

Originally posted on Le Mauricien 27.12.12

Internship Opportunity at CTA: Marketing Programme

Background

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation ACP-EU (CTA) is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU). CTA operates under the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and is funded by the EU.

Their mission is to advance food and nutrition security, increase prosperity and sound natural resource management. They do this by providing access to information and knowledge, facilitating policy dialogue and strengthening the capacity of agricultural and rural development institutions and communities in ACP countries.

They now have an exciting opportunity for a young marketing professional. The intern will work closely with other team members and across departments to play an active and integral role in meeting objectives designed to accelerate our outreach and visibility. The intern will gain experience and exposure to tools and strategies, enabling you to better understand the dynamics of our sector and make a contribution to the organisation.

Duties

Under the guidance and supervision of the Marketing Programme Coordinator, the intern will be responsible the following activities:

• Market Research, including:
  • Measuring impact on orders/downloads of monthly CTA Publishing e-newsletter
  • Online focus groups, surveys and questionnaires to gather reader feedback on Spore magazine

• Social Media
  • Assist in the development of a social media policy for CTA, notably for the marketing component
  • Assist in the development and implementation of a social media marketing plan for CTA
  • Assist in running and monitoring of social media campaigns

• Creation of ad hoc marketing materials.
  • Brief agencies on work to be done including advertisements, marketing products and campaigns
  • Ensure timely follow up with agency and project manager
• Responsible for compilation of monthly internal newsletter
• Assist in the organization, promotion and support of events where necessary
• Assist with all other day to day marketing activities as necessary
• Work as a part of the Marketing team providing insight, ideas and support

Qualifications and Experience

• University degree / Masters in marketing, communication, business or related discipline
• Recent graduate, between 22 - 29 years of age
• 1-2 years experience in social media marketing preferred
• Creative thinker who can work as part of a team and independently
• Passion for delivering high standards when multitasking and working to tight deadlines
• Flexible, self motivated and strong communicator
• Fluent in French and/or English language, and/or a good working knowledge of the other.
• Ideally familiar with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries
• National of either one European Union member state or of one of the ACP states

Internship Details

• Start date: 1st quarter 2013
• Duration: 6 months (renewable once)
• Location: Wageningen, The Netherlands
• Stipend: 800€ (holder of a Bachelor’s degree) to 1,000€ (holder of a Master’s degree).
• Medical cover is provided for the duration of the internship
• International travel from home country: not covered by CTA

Application Procedure

Interested candidates should submit documents listed below to burke@cta.int with a copy to internship@cta.int and enter the following text in the email subject field “Marketing Internship Application”

1. One page motivational letter explaining why he/she qualifies for this position;
2. Curriculum Vitae;
3. Scanned copies of academic qualifications;
4. Two letters of recommendations and / or references.

Deadline for application: 4 January 2013

Read original post on the CTA Website: Internship Opportunity at CTA: Marketing Programme

Le Dr Dhaneswar Dumur nommé à la présidence du Board du Jardin de Pamplemousses

Le Board du Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden Trust (SSRBGT) a été reconstitué. Et c’est désormais le Dr Dhaneswar Dumur, Senior Technical Adviser au ministère de l’Agro-Industrie qui en assure la présidence. Le renouvellement du Board fait suite à une décision du Conseil des ministres, ce vendredi 16 novembre 2012. Le nouveau président, le Dr Dhaneswar Dumur, a également été directeur de l’Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU). Jugmohun Heerasing, nommé directeur du jardin le 28 septembre dernier, reste en poste. Le nouveau Board, constitué de dix membres, regroupe ex-officiers, techniciens expérimentés et représentants des forces vives de Pamplemousses. Ils sont Nalini Brinda Payneeandy (acting-Principal Assisant Secretary au ministère de l’Agro-Industrie et de la Sécurité alimentaire), Chandrawtee Pothunnah-Aubeeluck (Tourism Planner au ministère du Tourisme et des Loisirs), V. Appadoo (Assistant Secretary au ministère de l’Environnement et du Développement durable), Manickchand Puttoo (directeur du National Parks and Conservation Service), Dr Tulsidas Naraidoo (directeur des ressources humaines), Jaykrishna Ramsewak (représentant des forces vives), Dr S. Ganeshan (Research Manager (Entomology) au MSIRI), Yousouf Mungroo (ancien directeur du National Parks and Conservation Service) et Soorooj Ramdewor (représentant des forces vives). Le Dr Dhaneswar Dumur détient un doctorat et une maîtrise en agriculture. Ancien directeur de l’AREU et ancien chargé de cours à l’Université de Maurice, il est un membre directeur du Centre de coordination pour la recherche agricole pour les pays de la SADC. Pour rappel, la nomination de Jugmohun Heerasing avait fait suite à la mise à pied de Chetanand Ramgoolam, l’ancien directeur du jardin. Avec, en toile de fond, la situation dramatique qui prévalait au jardin botanique, considéré comme un patrimoine du pays. Une situation qui avait alors été dénoncée par l’express. Source: lexpress.mu du 16.11.12

Mapping trees for food security in Mauritius

NEW ICT UPDATE OF CTA IS OUT. ACCESS IT HERE. BELOW ARTICLE IS FROM CURRENT ISSUE.

A crowdsourcing experiment was carried out in Mauritius to find out where the island’s breadfruit trees are located. However, the contributors’ lack of ICT skills made for disappointing results.

Breadfruit is a traditional crop in Mauritius that has been produced mainly in backyards. The authorities, however, identified breadfruit as an alternative source of carbohydrates for imported rice and wheat, which are the main staple foods in Mauritius. This resulted in a campaign to increase local breadfruit production for food security and export purposes.

In 2011, in line with the food security policy of the government, the Food and Agricultural Research Council established the Mauritius Breadfruit Sector Consortium. The consortium consists of public and private agricultural institutions collaborating to develop breadfruit production in Mauritius. The initiative is supported by the Platform for African-European Partnership on Agricultural Research for Development (PAEPARD). Its main aim is to develop a value chain approach and an action plan.

Since there are no commercial breadfruit farms in Mauritius and there are no orchards as such in the country, there are no official figures available about annual production. It is estimated to be more than 600 tonnes a year. The geographical location of breadfruit trees on the island is also unknown. For that reason, a crowdsourcing experiment using Google Maps was launched in Mauritius in February 2012 by the Mauritius Breadfruit Sector Consortium.

First, the consortium needed a platform for communication and information sharing among its stakeholders. They opted for a Wiki, because it would serve as a useful and accessible online platform for information sharing and collaboration. The consortium’s wiki supports Web 2.0 applications, so a Google Map was added. Google Map enables users to add breadfruit trees in Mauritius onto the map. It was chosen because it is a free web tool, with a user-friendly reputation. Pinpointing trees on the map is meant to benefit retailers, processors, exporters, and research scientists developing new varieties.

For each new entry, the tree needs to be labeled (for example, Breadfruit001) and people must provide their name and are encouraged to enter a description (for example, date spotted, flowering and fruiting stage, number and shape of fruit). Based on this information and the location of the tree, administrators can differentiate between useful and less useful entries. If there is any doubt regarding the location of a tree, the administrator adds a note to the description, and if no one responds, trees that appear to be wrongly placed will be removed from the map.

Unfortunately, only two members of the consortium initially contributed to the map after it was introduced. Feedback began trickling in from other consortium members who said that they were having difficulty adding trees to the map as they did not understand how to use Google Maps. This led to the development of a tutorial, in order to respond to the needs of the consortium members and the public.

The tutorial was accompanied by training sessions, and the platform was massively promoted on social media. This led more people to contribute, though it became apparent that the public needed time to understand the use and importance of the Google Map platform before contributing. The main problems are trees being placed in wrong locations on the map (in the sea or in the middle of a street), so the administrator has to check new entries regularly and remove wrongly placed trees.

Moreover, when the crowdsourcing activity started, breadfruit was in season, so trees were easily spotted because they had large leaves and spherical or oblong fruits. As the fruiting season came to an end, contributions to the Google Map slowed down too.

The result is that there are presently over 60 trees on the map with descriptions. A disappointing result so far if one considers that there are an estimated 3,000 or more breadfruit trees on Mauritius. Furthermore, contributors did not use GPS on their cell phones to add a tree. The trees were mainly entered on computers. In some cases, partners confirmed that these tools are meant for the youth, despite training sessions and product demonstrations. Another disappointment is that until now the consortium has been unable to receive any input from the farming community due to a lack of promotion by traditional means, such as radio and national television, since not many farmers use social media networks.

Several months after the implementation of the Google Map, however, consortium stakeholders are already using the map to locate trees for different purposes. For example, by using this map, samples were taken at different locations for research purposes, propagation and sales. The project managers have learned from the difficulties and are continuing with the activity to get the