Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will seek your indulgence and that of the House because the reply is rather lengthy. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the European Union has under its Global Climate Change Alliance Plus (GCCA+) Flagship initiative entitled ‘Supporting Climate Smart Agriculture’ funded EUR 2.4 million, approximately Rs 120 million for the period 2016-2020 to support climate smart agriculture in Mauritius. The projects aimed at increasing the resilience of smallholders to climate change by improving their capacity towards developing and sustaining climate smart agriculture practices. The project was broken down into four grant contract actions to be implemented by different institutions, namely – (a) The University of Mauritius for the transformation of Belle Mare into a Climate- Smart Agriculture village for climate resilience, food security, and poverty alleviation of its farmers. The project basically used a research approach to transform Belle Mare coastal area with high production of onion, tomato and other cash crops on sandy soil into a Climate-Smart Agriculture village with

83 innovative techniques of irrigation to be adopted to address water shortage at the cost of EUR 301,695; (b) The Mauritius Chamber of Agriculture for the transition towards agroecological climate-resilient food cropping systems in Mauritius, a research-based project, which involves networking of vegetable growers, diagnosis of current cropping systems, innovation tracking, theoretical formalisation of agroecological systems, implementation of redesigned systems and assessment and knowledge dissemination at a cost of EUR 393,410; (c) The Commission of Social Security (Rodrigues Regional Assembly) for the adaptation of smallholder farmers to climate change in Rodrigues with the setting up of an integrated organic chilli farm at Montagne du Sable and a lime and honey farm at Anse Ali at the cost of EUR 1,000,000. The goals of this project in Rodrigues were, inter-alia, to train 43 beneficiaries on sustainable agricultural and management practices under Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) guidelines, rehabilitate 10 hectares of land at Montagne du Sable and 3.25 hectares at Anse Ali through terracing, ploughing, and fencing. The project also involved the establishment of plant nurseries, pastures, agroforestry and compost pads at the sites, setting up rainwater harvesting structures, storage tanks and drip irrigation systems and purchase beehives, small ruminants, lime and chilli plantlets for the beneficiaries. (d) The Irrigation Authority for Improving Resilience of Small Holders to the effect of climate change through the adoption of new irrigation techniques in the driest part of the northern region of Mauritius at the cost of EUR 565,870.40. The project consists mainly of – (i) procurement of 4WD double cab vehicles for effective implementation of field activities; (ii) appointment of a consultant (Expert in climate change with expertise in agriculture) to implement the actions defined under the project. I was told that the services of the Consultant were not enlisted as it was not needed. (iii) Implementation of resilience irrigation infrastructure on existing three drip irrigation projects and sheltered farming/rain harvesting as a pilot project.

84 (iv) Capacity building of the Irrigation Authority’s technicians and smallholders covering climate change and its impact on agriculture, understanding weather patterns and the impact on farming, climate change adaptations strategies and climate smart agriculture practices, and advantages and disadvantages of the swapping to sheltered farming. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, with regard to part (b) of the question, the University of Mauritius has achieved the following – (i) Over 300 planters have been sensitised about climate change and climate smart agriculture practices through face-to-face training sessions, in-situ demonstrations and provision of a simple, easy to understand booklet in Creole and English, and video on the CSA practices (climate smart agriculture). (ii) The project also develops a document entitled ‘Creating and Enabling Environment for Climate Smart Agriculture in Mauritius,’ which included a training booklet and a video on climate smart agriculture for small vegetable growers. Now, if the above is implemented at national level, the enabling environment that would thus be created would contribute considerably in encouraging a large number of vegetable planters in the Republic of Mauritius to adopt climate smart agriculture. Official figures on sales of pesticides and fertilisers to planters obtained from the Mauritius Agriculture and Marketing Corporative Federation from the start of the project till its completion showed a steady reduction in the number of fertilisers, ranging from degrees of 55% to 100 % for different fertilisers, and synthetic pesticides ranging from 46% to 62% for the different products. An increase by 247% in the amount of bio fertilisers and bio products demanded by the planters from Belle Mare and neighbouring areas, as a direct result of the project. Of course, due to constant monitoring by the European Union also. Now, with regard to the project implemented by the Chamber of Agriculture, I am informed that Rs7.5 million of various equipment has been provided to producers to help them in this transition. Training and accompanying measures have been provided to 150 trainees with regard to the reduction in pesticide used. Successful networking of planters was created for various strategies to be adopted such as mulching, beneficial plants, composting, sanitation, push-pull techniques and equipment like shredders, insect nets and weeders were tested on the monitored farm. Field visits and frequent meetings were organised to promote the exchange of experiences.

85 The record books of the farmers help to produce useful economic and technical references for sharing experiences. The economic performance of 29 vegetable growers, total and marketed yield, costs of seeds, pesticides, fertilisers, labour wages, fuel costs and sale prices from marketing gardening systems with sustainable practices was evaluated. The main result was a 57 average reduction in total fungicides, herbicides and insecticides input across seven crops, with insecticides decreasing by 78% on cabbage and herbicide being reduced by 90% on pumpkin. Regarding the project implemented on the Rodrigues Regional Assembly, I am informed that the following has been achieved – (i) Infrastructure (irrigation, stable, processing house) implementation has been realised in 2022/2023, but some still has to be finalised as drip irrigation. Rain harvesting basins for irrigation have also been installed. (ii) Furthermore, various outcomes have been obtained: the production of honey and lime trees at Anse Ali started around December 2023, the production of vegetable and sheep started at Montagne du Sable in January 2024. (iii) The training of beneficiaries in climate smart agriculture practices have been completed. Now, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, in terms of outputs, substantial investment has been made in the realisation of project for two farms where 43 persons from vulnerable households obtained training to produce and acquire income. The main infrastructure includes, amongst others, access roads, fencing, rainwater harvesting structures, storage tanks and some drip irrigation set up. Besides, goat pens have been constructed at Montagne du Sable and 30 beehives have been set up at Anse Ali, including processing equipment. The Rodrigues Project has promoted several concrete examples of climate smart agriculture practices. These include agroforestry through the planting of trees as windbreaks. The aim is to plant two ha of trees to set up an agroforestry farm over two ha at Anse Ali, and integrate lime cultivation with forest trees. Other practices include crop diversification, drip irrigation for water-use efficiency and rainwater harvesting together with composting residues and sheep dung for green manure. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, regarding the project implemented by Irrigation Authority, which falls under the purview of the Ministry of Agro-Industry, was co-financed by the European Union which contributed up to 80% of the funding amounting to Euro 568,870, that is, approximately Rs28 million and the remaining 20%, that is, approximately Rs7 million by the Government.

86 I am informed by the Irrigation Authority that except for component on sheltered farming, all the other components were successfully implemented. The reason for same was due to unsuccessful procurement exercise on four occasions whereby on each occasion, the price quoted by bidders was far above the cost estimates specified by EU in its contract which could not be changed. This resulted in the Board of the IA deciding that this component be shelved and this amount EUR 146,500 was, of course, not used. Furthermore, the EU recommended that no consultancy services be sought, given the unique experience of the IA and its technicians. The consultancy was therefore done in-house and the respective funds were reallocated for the purchase of equipment. After the completion of the project in September 2023, an amount of approximately EUR207,000, which includes the amount mentioned earlier for sheltered farming component and EUR60,500 from savings made on the other components was refunded to the EU on September 2024. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, a comprehensive impact assessment analysis was conducted by Irrigation Authority which demonstrated that the EU-funded project yielded a multitude of significant benefits. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, as regards part (c) of the question, I am informed that the EU prepared an evaluation report of the consultation with stakeholders. The main purpose of the evaluation is to present the findings, conclusions, lessons learnt and recommendations of external and independent evaluation of the GCCA+ as implemented. The evaluation report’s main aim is to inform the Government of Mauritius, the project implementing agencies and the EU delegation in Port Louis about the achievements, but also shortcomings from the projects implemented. The IA has implemented a monitoring and evaluation framework as required by EU to assess the impact of this project. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, since January the ministry is placing a high premium on stakeholder engagement. Feedback is actively being solicited and incorporated into impact assessment through regular meetings and consultations with planters and their cooperative societies. This participatory approach ensures that the project accounts are aligned with the needs and priorities of planters. Furthermore, the Ministers have through consultation,…

(Interruptions)

Time is over!

…in the light of the next budget…

Can you please…

87

(Interruptions)

…the measures are being identified to tackle the concerns of…

Can you please conclude?

…small planters to address the issue affecting the crops, sugar, livestock production in Mauritius. I thank you very much.

Thank you!

(Interruptions)

Thank you, hon. Minister for your long and comprehensive answer! Let me remind you that you have another statement to make in a few minutes.

(Interruptions)

Yes, time is over! The Table has been advised that PQs B/466, B/525 and B/526 have been withdrawn. Hon. Prime Minister!