Support for sustaining Seychelles' food supply
Sir, I congratulate Mr. Paul Lesperance for his letter “Sustaining Seychelles' food supply” published in the May 8th, 2008 issue of Seychelles Nation (and republished below).
I fully support the contents of the letter because each and every paragraph of the letter is worthwhile to analyse and implement in our country.
As a developing small island state we can manage our food problem and other needs satisfactorily if we plan properly. Further, the rice producing countries must consider giving a small island like us an exemption when they impose ban for exports.
I am confident that the government will take the issue seriously.
Sustaining Seychelles' food supply
Sir, The world currently faces major food shortages while costs escalate to new heights. As developing countries come to terms with this predicament, the unfortunate suffer from malnutrition and starvation.
The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is heading a special UN committee to deal with this issue in order to sustain and maintain the world food supplies and sources.
Seychelles imports a large proportion of its food from abroad which puts us in a very vulnerable position. Rising costs and fluctuating supply of imported staple foods will drive local prices higher. Local importers will likely see a gradual decrease in their buying power because of the increase in prices on the international market. Many analysts attribute this global crisis to the recession in America and the quest to use corn and other grains as a source of alternative green fuel rather than a food crop.
All stakeholders need to come up with concrete short and long term plans to deal with this crisis in Seychelles and protect our way of life while keeping food costs low. Recommendations, solutions, and the application of laws need to be adopted to ensure the survival of all Seychellois, especially low income families.
We are lucky to have an abundant supply of fish in our waters, but as we recently learned from SFA, our tuna, sharks, and bourgeois stock are gradually diminishing because of over fishing and exploitation of undersize fish. SFA needs to set standards and educate fisherman on the size and species of fish they catch for local market or export, and help them understand the importance of sustaining fish populations. Catch and release programs could give life back to undersize or breeding fish and the failure to comply with these laws need to carry major consequences of fines if violated.
Back in the old days, many of the outlying islands were used as agricultural lands. Instead of concentrating only on tourism developments, perhaps we should consider allocating one of these islands as an agricultural zone for the cultivation of vegetables and raising livestock for local consumption.
Many Seychellois plant and maintain fruit and vegetable gardens on their property for their own consumption and for sale. These initiatives need to be encouraged to reduce our reliance on imports. In many countries people live in flats and don't have access to land; therefore, they are allocated plots in community garden to grow vegetables and fruits for their own consumption perhaps it is time for us to think about applying this idea here in Seychelles.
Lately, there had been a surge in violence, drugs and theft against society, and one way to reverse the negative aspect of such destructive activity is to have the accused give back to society. If prisoners would cultivate the land and raise animals, this would reduce labour costs and at the same time provide retraining for detainees, thus bringing down the cost of food production and importation.
There are many things we can do to strengthen our food security and self-sufficiency in Seychelles. Some can be done by each citizen but we urgently need a national strategy to ensure that we can sustain our way of life in Seychelles for years to come. We hope that our contribution towards this important issue is taken as a positive suggestion intended to benefit all Seychellois and the Seychelles economy.