Environmental policy and administrative management

The Paradise Integrated Farming Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited which has been set up specifically in the context of an integrated farming project is a cooperative society registered in April 2007 with the Registrar of Cooperative Societies. Prior to the setting up of this cooperative, Mrs Desiree Bergicourt, the project leader, has been engaged in the Roche Bois Cooperative Society which is a member of Federation of Pig Cooperative Society. In addition, she is a well known breeder who has been involved in pig breeding over the last 20 years and is supplying piglets to many pig breeders in Mauritius. Currently, she is a back-yard farmer at Terre Rouge. The main problem with the back-yard farm is that the breeder encounters much difficulty to dispose of the solid and liquid wastes of her breeding unit. The main objective is for the cooperative to produce its own materials, energy, fertilizers and feeds at the lowest costs by recycling all the wastes of the farm. In fact, instead of spending money for the disposal of the wastes, the latter are converted as entrants in the farming process. The integrated farming process will provide adequate infrastructures for the disposal of wastes in line with existing health and sanitary laws and regulations, and create an environment free of odor, fly and rodent proliferation, soil and water contamination and smokes. Finally, the project will provide a sustainable livelihood to the members of the cooperative. The financing requested to the Global Environment Facility/Small Grant Programme of UNDP for the Waste Treatment Plant amounts to one million and three hundred and five thousand Rupees (Rs1.3 M) as detailed later on. The Cooperative has collected Rs 359,000.00 for starting the project and two of the members will devote their fulltime to the farm operations. The components of the farm such as the farmers` quarters, the acquisition of the pigs, the enclosing of the farm, and the construction of the animal shed will be submitted to other donors namely the Empowerment Programme of the Ministry of Finance, and the Decentralised Programme of the EU. The cooperative society is being supported by the CEDREFI which is a research oriented NGO working on sustainable development issues, the Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU), the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Fisheries and the`Collectif Pour Un Combat Unitaire`. The above organisations are bringing their technical, managerial, operational and financial support to the preparation and implementation of the project. A lease of 2.5 acres of land has been agreed with the Government of Mauritius for the purpose of the setting up the integrated farm at Medine. The core farming activity will be livestock especially the production of 800 piglets yearly. The integrated farm is rooted in the Professor George Chan`s model of`Integrated Pilot Farms for Mauritius`. Members of the cooperative have been inducted in the integrated farming techniques and during the implementation process, the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Professor G.Chan will provide the relevant technical assistance. The project will focus on the demonstration of the integrated farming technologies and system, and the capacity building of members of the cooperative in the recycling of animal wastes as part and parcel of the integrated farming system. All solid wastes are treated in digesters and tanks for the recovering of methane gas for domestic and farming activities instead of releasing it in the atmosphere and contributing to global warming. The recycling plant will require the following: (i) Canalization for the transfer of the solid and liquid wastes to the digester. (ii) The construction of two concrete digesters for solid wastes and liquid wastes with the relevant piping for the biogas produced to be used for several purposes on the farm. (iii) Installation of a settling tanks with oxidation basins to treat the liquid waste from the digester. (iv) The construction of the pond which is the central element of the recycling system, where several types of fish shall be grown for conversion to pig feeds. Once the development of the integrated farm technologies is completed, the farm will become fully operational within a period of three months. The training of the members of the cooperative will be based on training by doing principles with the technical support of the technical team. The integrated farming process will ensure a sustainable living to farmers and contribute in valorising local technical assistance and technologies. The farming facilities, once fully developed, will be available for demonstration purposes for the farming community and students of integrated farming systems.

Mauritius