Agriculture/food security and fisheries/aquaculture SADC ministers meet through video-conferencing |11 May 2021

Minister Joubert

The joint meeting of the SADC ministers responsible for agriculture and food security, fisheries and aquaculture was held last Friday in Maputo, Mozambique, through video-conferencing.

Prior to this joint meeting, principal secretaries and senior officials responsible for agriculture and food security, fisheries and aquaculture met on May 5-6, 2021 for the preparation of the annotated agenda which was approved by the ministers.

The joint meeting was attended by 114 delegates from the fourteen member states namely Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The Seychelles delegation consisted of the Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment Flavien Joubert; Keven Nancy and Antoine Moustache from the department of Agriculture and Aubrey Lesperance from the Seychelles Fishing Authority.

On Friday May 7, 2021, the SADC deputy executive secretary, Dr Thembinkosi Mhlongo, delivered a statement on behalf of Her Excellency Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax.

Dr Mhlongo welcomed all the ministers present and wished them fruitful deliberations.

He pointed out that despite the prospects of improved food and nutrition security for the just commenced marketing year which was mainly brought about by good rainfall experienced in the region, overall the region is still experiencing negative effects of climate change manifested through recurrent torrential rains, floods, cyclones and drought experienced during the past few seasons and the Covid-19 pandemic.

The main objective of the meeting is to follow-up on the decisions of the summit and council, specifically to review the food security situation following challenges experienced by the region with regard to drought in some parts and excessive rains in others; outbreaks of transboundary animal and plant pests and diseases; and developments in the fisheries sectors.

The meeting reviewed the implementation of the Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP) and its related programmes including food security, livestock, crops and fisheries as well as the SADC Plant Genetics Resources Centre (SPGRC), and the Centre for Coordination of Agriculture Research on Southern Africa (CCARDESA). The meeting deliberated on the mentioned sectors contribution in the implementation of the SADC Industrialization Strategy as well as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on agriculture.

In his statement on the subject of Agricultural Development Fund (ADF) Minister Joubert informed the meeting that Seychelles currently has a locally funded ADF and is looking at ways to increase the local financing. Subsequent to that Seychelles will review its participation in the proposed regional fund.

Press release from the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment