Mauritius

Mauritius plans to buy 20,000 hectares (49,420 acres) of prime farmland in Mozambique to alleviate mounting worries about food security on the import-dependent island.

Plusieurs autorités du public et du privé se sont réunies le 13 août pour une séance de concertation concernant le projet du gouvernement mauricien de sous-louer des terres au Mozambique aux investisseurs intéressés. Des terres que Maurice loue à bail.

Yes Bank expects a $150 million Tanzanian rice and wheat project to reach full production by 2011, the first of several large African farms it is funding. "We are looking at a more inclusive model wherein the local farmers can be organised into a producers company, and they would be the suppliers to the processing facility. It's predominantly not to acquire huge tracts of land."

Soaring food prices and lack of land have forced Mauritius, a net food importing country, to launch an ambitious initiative. The island state is starting to grow its food in other African states where land is lying fallow and labour is cheap.

An agreement for the allocation of 5,000 hectares of land in the Beira region was signed by Mauritius and Mozambique early this year.