Lisa Singh, who’s the UN Resident Coordinator in Mauritius and Seychelles, was talking forward of the UN Food Systems Summit +2 which is going down in Italy from 24 to 26 July.

“It is a notably compelling time to be the Resident Coordinator for a small island state like Mauritius. Since my arrival right here in 2022, I’ve skilled examples of utmost climate situations akin to flooding and cyclones on the one hand and water shortages on the opposite.

This seen impact of local weather change mixed with our geographical remoteness, small scale of economies, and excessive import prices have grave penalties for our island’s meals safety. It has gained better momentum for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic and Ukraine war-related provide and commodity shocks, elevating robust preoccupations with meals safety as a key to the sustainable financial transformation agenda.

Meals methods have emerged not solely as an agricultural problem however as a game-changer to catalyse outcomes throughout a number of SDGs. The upcoming occasion in Italy supplies a chance for the 2 international locations to deal with the way in which ahead to speed up the transformative energy of meals methods.

Meals manufacturing have to be considered throughout sectors and never in isolation. Water and power are direct inputs in any respect phases of the meals worth chain, whereas pure sources, ecosystems, and their companies underpin the safety of those inputs. Agriculture accounts for 30 per cent of water use in Mauritius alone. Globally, one third of the world’s accessible power is consumed by the meals manufacturing worth chain.

Taking holisitic method

Addressing water shortage and investing in renewable power is crucial to meals safety. Mauritius imports three quarters of its power with renewable power, accounting for twenty-four per cent of its present power combine. It imports over 77 per cent of its meals necessities with households beneath pressure as meals costs on staple items akin to bread, black lentils, powdered milk, and cooking oil proceed to rise. Our reliance on imports akin to seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, know-how, and gear go away it susceptible to worldwide commodity and provide disruptions.

Remodeling meals methods can play a key function in international locations’ local weather change mitigation and adaptation methods. For example, according to its nationally decided contributions, Mauritius has re-affirmed its commitments to cut back greenhouse gasoline emissions from the agricultural sector. The nation has additionally recognized agriculture as a precedence sector for local weather change adaptation with a lot deal with environment friendly irrigation methods and climate-smart agriculture.

Clearly for the UN crew, supporting a holistic methods method to deal with the interlinkages between meals, local weather, water, power, and gender is crucial.

Energy of partnerships

We’re taking a twin focus. There may be the institutional engagement to tell the methods, insurance policies, and budgets mandatory to remodel meals methods in addition to influencing finances allocations.

We additionally purpose at strengthening neighborhood resilience, leveraging the facility of partnerships, digital platforms, private-public modalities, and knowledge, with the inclusion of ladies and youth on the centre.

For international locations like Mauritius, the place tourism is a big supply of GDP earnings, the impression of local weather change poses a sustainability threat given its uncommon but fragile pure ecosystems.

Lives and livelihoods of communities, notably in coastal areas, are straight impacted. Coral bleaching and human air pollution is placing stress on the lagoon ecosystem affecting our artisanal fishers like Nazma and her household.

She has been an artisanal fisher for over 30 years alongside along with her husband and a number of other of her youngsters. It is a sustainable manner of fishing, as solely strains are used not like in business fishing. Moreover, a lot of the fish caught by them are for consumption in Mauritius versus export.

Nazma says that she loves every part about fishing. It’s a ardour that has develop into her job. However, she emphasizes that life is pricey, gas is pricey, and there are fewer fish within the lagoon.

The UN, in collaboration with the European Union by way of the Ecofish undertaking, is utilizing improvements in know-how to empower artisanal fishers to maneuver out of over-exploited lagoons.

Nurturing ‘good’ agriculture

By enhancing the financial resilience of those conventional fisher communities, meals safety will likely be strengthened by way of better-managed marine sources.

In Rodrigues, which is a part of the archipelago of Mauritius, we’re working with eight ladies who’ve shaped the Rodrigues Turmeric Producers Affiliation to develop and course of turmeric into powder on the market.

Addressing the power inputs into agriculture, one of many affiliation members, Marie-Anne, says that with monetary backing from the Small Grants Programme (SGP) of the UN-supported International Surroundings Facility (GEF), she and her friends have been in a position to purchase a photo voltaic dryer to interchange an electrical one which consumed numerous power and value some huge cash.

Her colleague and pal, Perrine, explains how the enterprise permits ladies to emancipate themselves. It is going to additionally allow their grandchildren to proceed this work as a result of turmeric will at all times be there.

There are different revolutionary sustainable meals methods options being piloted by UN businesses in Mauritius. The UN Improvement Programme (UNDP), along with the Meals and Agriculture Group (FAO) and UN Women beneath the Joint SDG Fund, are selling low-cost biofertilizers made regionally from seaweed.

Initiatives to nurture good agriculture are being supported by FAO, UNDP, the UN Convention on Commerce and Improvement (UNCTAD), and the UN Inhabitants Fund (UNFPA).

With solely seven years left to ship on the 2030 Agenda our UN Country Team in Mauritius will proceed its efforts to assist the diversification of the economic system, strengthen the round economic system, and spend money on human capital to fight provide shocks.

Working in partnership to additional local weather motion and foster resilient pathways is essential to defending the way forward for Mauritius for our folks, planet, prosperity, and peace.”