Ifad to assist Seychelles in achieving its food security goals |08 March 2013

Mr Nwanze, who is here on a four-day visit, was accompanied by Ifad’s regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Seychellois Perin St Ange, and the Events and Communications Officer, David Pasqui.

Mr Nwanze, who was later presented with a coco de mer by President Michel, said assistance being offered covers fisheries, crop and livestock production.
He said with President Michel he reviewed the many constraints Seychelles is facing, including infrastructure, arable land scarcity and limited access to markets.

Mr Nwanze said President Michel was particularly interested for small island states like Seychelles to focus on the sub-region and make maximum use of resources in the Indian Ocean for the benefit of all concerned.

He said the occasion was to re-engage Ifad’s participation in Seychelles after relative inactivity of almost 15 years.
Ifad is a specialised United Nations agency, based in Rome, which is the UN’s food and agriculture hub.

It is now to grant Seychelles US $3 million in assistance for a five-year period to rehabilitate its agricultural sector, with the possibility of extending the aid for another five-year period depending on performance.

Also present at the talks at State House was the Minister for Natural Resources and Industry, Peter Sinon, his principal secretary for Natural Resources, Michel Nalletamby and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Barry Faure.

Mr Nwanze, a Nigerian, who studied agriculture at Ibadan University, Nigeria and later Kansas State University, has served in several senior postings, before being elected Ifad’s fifth president in April 2009. He was in January re-elected for a second four-year term.

He is due to meet several ministers and other top government officials before flying back to Rome tomorrow.