Manual for Best Practices in Soil Conservation and Soil Fertility Management

Press Release

Participant at the workshop

The farming community in Seychelles was recipients of copies of a Manual for Best Practices in Soil Conservation and Soil Fertility Management at a workshop held at Care House on Thursday 29^th March.

Donating sets of manual

The manual was drafted by Mr Keven Nancy, the Principal Officer for Research and Development Section of the Seychelles Agricultural Agency in consultation with other local counterparts and with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) under the Sustainable Land Management project being managed by the GOS-UNDP-GEF Programme Coordination Unit.   


Mr Denis Matatiken, the CEO for the Seychelles National Parks Authority and also the alternate Director for GEF in Seychelles, donated sets of the manuals to the CEO of SAA, and the representatives from the Seychelles Farmers Association, the SAHTC and the National Library respectively.  The donations were made in the presence of the Special Advisor to the Minister for Natural Resources, Mr Antoine Marie Moustache and representatives of the GOS-UNDP-GEF Programme Coordination Unit.

Participants at the workshop was given an overview on the contents of the manual, its purpose and also had the opportunity to learn more on soil conservation and soil fertility management practices.  Such practices aim at reducing the adverse effects of agricultural activities on the environment, including the cultivated slopes, the streams and rivers, the coastal plains and the marine environment.   

New CEO of SAA Mr. Marc Naiken delivering his opening address

In his opening address for the workshop, Mr Marc Naiken, the newly appointed CEO of the Seychelles Agricultural Agency, said that “the rapid degradation in the Agricultural Sector (particularly the crop section) has led to loss of interest in new ideas pertaining to crop production and many farmers / technicians has left the industry.” He further added that “The Sustainable Land Management Project has injected a new dimension of capacity building through the empowerment of farmers to solve problems on their farms.”  He stressed on the role that SAA has to play to ensure that the local farming community continue to benefit from sound technical advice for future growth of the sector.

The Sustainable Land Management project has since November 2010 under an activity entitled “Development and Implementation of SLM through soil conservation and soil fertility in agriculture” funded several small projects for the farming community including: training for over 60 farmers held on Mahe and Praslin on the subject of soil sampling; purchase of several pieces of soil testing equipment for the soil laboratory of SAA; incorporating the mainstreaming best agricultural practices in the SAHTC Curriculum; a field guide for collecting, packing, labelling and transporting soil samples; and also the financing for the drafting, design and printing of the Best Practices Manual.

An MOU was signed in 2011 between the GOS-UNDP-GEF Programme Coordination Unit and the Seychelles Agricultural Agency for the construction and enhancement of the Soil Laboratory.

One of the purposes of the workshop was also to seek the views of the farmers and other stakeholders who attended on the fees being proposed for the use of the laboratory in order to ensure sustainability of the services provided and also to validate the proposals for mainstreaming best agricultural practices in the SAHTC curriculum.

The presenters were Mr Keven Nancy, Mr Barry Nourrice and Mr Jean Alcindor.

Mrs Veronique Herminie (FCCA)

National Programme Coordinator

GOS-UNDP-GEF

Programme Coordination Unit