Africa-Press – Mauritius. A training programme spanned over 18 months, on the theme “Empowering Coastal Communities through Native oyster aquaculture” was launched, this evening, at Le Petit Barachois, in Poudre d’Or.
The project is an initiative of the Non-Governmental Organisation ‘Ocean Connect’, funded by the UNDP under the Small Grants Programme Global Environment Facility (GEF). A total of 15 women from coastal communities in Grand Gaube and Poste de Flacq are participating.
The Minister of Blue Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping, Mr Sudheer Maudhoo, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative of Mauritius and Seychelles, Ms Amanda K.
Serumaga, and other personalities were present on the occasion. In his address, Minister Maudhoo highlighted that the purpose of the training is to empower women of the coastal communities through the native oyster aquaculture.
Aquaculture, he underlined, is one of the most promising sectors of the national economy and seafood is a staple food whose demand is increasing due to growing population and awareness on health benefits.
Furthermore, the Minister lauded the efforts of the President of Ocean Connect, Mr Khemraj Persand, who is the only one whose project has been a success among all those who were allocated barachois. The annual turnaround of this barachois amounts to some 600 000 units, he added.
Mr Maudhoo emphasised that there is a lot of potential in this iindustry and recalled that his Ministry is coming up with new conditions in the lease of barachois so as to give more incentives to promoters to invest in this sector.
The lease will encompass, among others, hatchery amenities, ecological nurseries, depuration/purification and phyto sanitary plants to meet export standards, and ecotourism, he said. In addition, he stressed that most of the oyster extractors, amounting to some 50 members, are situated in Poste de Flacq.
Thus, he appealed to the UNDP to encourage these persons to form cooperatives whereby they will benefit from the assistance from his Ministry, namely, provision of mini barachois for oyster culture, training in sustainable oyster culture, technical assistance to increase production, and marketing assistance for value added sale of oysters so that they sell their products directly to the Hotel industry.
Minister Maudhoo pointed out that due consideration must be given to this sector in order to make it a real success and highlighted that the Ministry is making the necessary efforts so that oyster collection around the country is recognised as an economic activity.
The collectors will also be allocated a card similar to the fishermen’s card so that they can benefit from several schemes, he added. For her part, Ms Serumaga highlighted that this ceremony marks the first of seven projects approved to date for Mauritius under GEF Operational Phase 7 by UNDP Small Grants Programme, amounting to Rs 14,9 million.
The objective of the project, she underscored, is to promote food security and livelihood to 15 women from vulnerable households living in the coastal areas of Grand Gaube and Poste de Flacq through capacity development to address social exclusion, poverty, unemployment, and gender inequality through small scale aquaculture skills development.
Furthermore, the UNDP Representative indicated that this 18-month capacity development project will provide opportunity to adopt new grow-out skills with the appropriate tools and equipment in order to increase income leading to improved self-reliance and improved livelihoods through the setting up of micro businesses.
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