Seychelles - Stage 2
Main findings
The main findings that have been identified as the key barriers that could slow down the imperative to increase local production of farm commodities are listed below: • The development of a more challenging trading environment where local producers have to compete with cheaper import substitutes. The situation is partly associate with the adoption of the fair, free and open market policy, limited capacity of farmers to exploit economies of scale at local level due to the size of the farms where the average is 8000sqm. This affects all categories of farm commodities especially livestock. The
... Read moremain argument advanced by the local food producers was the limited scope for economies of scale and as such they find it difficult to compete on price with exporting countries where the opportunity for economies of scales and location provide them with a competitive advantage. The general tone is that global food trade could constrain the imperative to grow the local food production system. • The participants were of the opinion that there is inadequate traction and coordination to implement and drive policy decisions to improve the productivity of the local food production system and to contribute a bigger part to the food basket. The general perception was that more often the benchmark tends to be set at policy document availability level and not enough drive given to tangible execution of decisions to transform the local food production system. • The scarcity of farm land and the restrictive land use policy. Seychelles has a total land mass of 452 km2 of which 50% is under protection regime and only 600 hectares are allocated for agricultural activities; which is less than 2% of the total land mass. The policy to restrict agriculture activities in areas demarcated as buffet zone is seen as a barrier to the growth and development of the sector. • The impact of climate change and the consequences of higher temperature, new rainfall patterns and distribution, frequent extreme events, floods and increases severity of pests and diseases are serious threats to the local food production system. • Difficulty to access development grants and low interest financing instruments. The limited access to grants to finance core infrastructure of strategic importance but with limited commercial direct return as well as the lack of venture capital to finance high risk developments were mentioned. • The participants discussed at length the gaps in the value and supply chains such as sourcing difficulties, access to technology, limited farm workers on the local market, regional temperature controlled storage facilities, demand and supply management platform as well as inadequate services from support institutions. • Inadequate marketing investment to promote local farm commodities and local cuisine to counter and mitigate the risks of homogenization and globalization of taste. Read less
Action Track(s): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Keywords: Environment and Climate, Finance, Governance, Innovation, Policy