VICTORIA, Seychelles — The Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Flavien Joubert, addressed the Regional Ministerial Conference on Food Security and Nutrition in Indian Oceania, held on March 21 in Antananarivo, Madagascar. In his intervention, Minister Joubert remarked that progress in food security and nutrition in the region has been sluggish under the Regional Programme for Food Security and Nutrition of the Indian Ocean Commission.
The minister added that from the setbacks of the last decade has emerged a beam of hope in the form of the renewed commitment of the member-states of the IOC to make food security and nutrition a priority by revamping the PRESAN programme. Minister Joubert explained that as a highly import-dependent country with a thriving fishing industry, Seychelles is bent on making the region a source of many of its agricultural imports, as well as a market for its fish products.
He said that Seychelles has already started importing agricultural products from Madagascar such as vanilla and onions, and is in the process of importing ginger, garlic and potatoes, and is exploring the possibility of exporting the by-catch of industrial fishing to countries of the region. On the sidelines of the conference, Minister Joubert held bilateral talks with the French Delegate Minister for International Partnerships and Francophonie, Thani Mohamed-Soilihi. The minister was accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health.
