Minister visits southwest Mahé farms |30 March 2014

As part of her series of visits to workplaces, the Minister for Labour and Human Resource Development, Idith Alexander, this week visited two farms in the southwest of Mahé.

The farms visited were the L & G Farm at Anse aux Poules Bleues and the Gonzalve Farm at Anse à la Mouche.

Welcomed at the L & G Farm by its managing director Luc Gedeon, the ministerial delegation were given a tour of the different crops planted on the farm, the nursery, store facilities and staff accommodation.

During the tour, Minister Alexander interacted with the three Seychellois workers, two of whom have been working on the farm for seven and 10 years, and the 10 non-Seychellois workers who have been employed for just over a year.

It was observed that there were no youths working on the farm and this was among the points discussed during the debriefing session with management.

Mr Gedeon noted that there is a lot to be gained in the field of agriculture but that this is sometimes unattainable due to a shortage of farm workers on the local labour market to meet demand.

Minister Alexander and Mr Gedeon discussed ways of working together to address the issue of recruiting qualified staff.

Proposals included taking on youths on one of the employment training schemes and the adoption of a flexible employment system, which is a move that is being encouraged by her ministry to ensure that people of working age have more access to employment opportunities.
Mr Gedeon was very receptive to these initiatives.

“I am happy to see that you are open to the idea of introducing a flexible employment system,” said the minister.

At the Gonzalve Farm, the managing director Gonzalve Morin raised the same concerns with regard to recruitment of local farm workers.

The minister was however pleased to note that there was an 18-year-old youth working on the farm and who she was informed is very dedicated in his work and eager to learn new skills.

“Your enthusiasm and motivation should serve as an example to other youths,” the minister told the youngster.  

In the debriefing which followed, Mr Morin informed the minister that despite introducing monetary incentives, staff members were not motivated to be more productive or continue to work on the farm.

He added that he is prepared to work with the ministry to introduce new incentives to try to retain staff.

Minister Alexander ended the visit by saying that there are plenty of job opportunities in the agricultural sector for those willing to work. However, they will also have to take their work responsibilities seriously.

She also had words of encouragement for recent graduates of the Seychelles Agricultural and Horticultural Training Centre who are interested to take advantage of the employment opportunities on offer at the two farms.

The accompanying photographs show Minister Alexander and her delegation on their tour of the farms.