Africa-Press – Mauritius. The Attorney General, Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Mr Maneesh Gobin, chaired a working session, today in Port Louis, with the Director of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Ms Shamika Sirimanne, in connection with the CropWatch Innovative Cooperation Programme.
The Chief of Science, Technology, and Innovation for Development Section of UNCTAD, Ms Liping Zhang, senior officials of the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security, and other personalities were also present during the meeting.
In a statement, Ms Sirimanne highlighted that the meeting focused on crop monitoring using satellite data and that she is on official visit to Mauritius in the context of the Regional Workshop on CropWatch Innovative Cooperation Programme entitled ‘Advancing satellite-based crop monitoring to increase resilience in the face of global food insecurity’.
The aim of the workshop, she stated, is to build capacity of African and Middle East countries so that they can use satellite data to monitor their crops.
Mauritius, she underlined, was selected based on strict criteria so as to form part of this programme along with 10 other countries. She remarked that our country is close to completing the programme and has the ability to issue crop monitoring bulletins on a monthly basis.
As such, farmers will have the ability to know whether their crops are receiving enough water, fertilisers or even if crops have any diseases, she added.
Furthermore, UNCTAD’s Director informed that the programme is being carried out by China, through the United Nations, and is an appropriate one for Small Island Developing States like Mauritius.
The programme, she outlined, will help countries to face issues such as poverty and food security, which might get worse in the future due to climate change. The early warning through satellite data can thus be beneficial so as to face those challenges, she concluded.
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