Sustainable Agricultural Organisation end of year report 2014
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Transcript of Sustainable Agricultural Organisation end of year report 2014
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Contents Activities realized ........................................................................................................................................ 3
On-going Activity ...................................................................................................................................... 11
On-Project ................................................................................................................................................. 19
Updates ...................................................................................................................................................... 19
Current Committee Members ................................................................................................................. 20
Current Members ..................................................................................................................................... 20
Advisory Committee ................................................................................................................................. 20
Resigning Members ................................................................................................................................. 21
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Activities realized
1. Presentation on climate change and drawing competition at APDA
2. Solidarity with Lupus Alert
Painting competition and presentation on Climate Change at APDA
Venue: APDA School, Curepipe
Date: 24th September 2014
In collaboration with the Teaching Staff of APDA School
Overview
The aim of the painting competition was to sensitize children on the importance of
agriculture and the impact of climate change. Prior to the painting competition a short
power point presentation was done in order to help the children understand the
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importance and opportunities that agriculture has to offer and also on the impact of
climate change and how they can mitigate it through agriculture.
Activity description
This activity would not have been possible without the collaboration of the whole
Sustainable Agricultural Organisation Team. They were highly motivated and helped for
the proper functioning of the activity throughout its duration. Ms. Anusha Seechurn
made a vegetarian chocolate cake especially for the children; Ms. Nivershee
Theeroovengadum brought some banana cakes to distribute among the children. Other
members contributed to buy fruits, juice and plastic mugs in order to provide a small
collation for the children.
The power point presentation started with the collaboration from the staff of APDA
School who helped us to communicate and with the children. Since the children only
communicate through sign languages, the assistance of the teachers was
indispensable. In order to make the presentation more lively, chocolates were given to
those children who would answer to questions and participate actively in the
presentation. The presentation was performed two times; once with more mature
students and the second time with pre-primary children. With the mature students the
presentation was more in depth and therefore took longer compared with pre-primary
ones which only covered the basic part. In the end we made as such that each child get
equal chance to participate and have the opportunity to get a chocolate.
This first activity would never have been possible without the help of the APDA staff
members and the Sustainable Agricultural Organisation team. A special thanks equally
goes to Mrs. Mariam Sumun for the opportunity she has given to us to carry out our first
activity and the welcome she gave to us.
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Figure 5: participation of the students during presentation
Figure 6: Students participating in drawing competition
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Sustainable Agricultural Organisation
Helping the NGO Lupus-alert in its annual fund raising
Event agenda: Fund raising for Lupus- alert
Date: 30th September to 3rd October
In collaboration with the University of Mauritius
And Faculty of Agriculture
Overview
The aim of this event was to help the NGO Lupus Alert in its annual fund raising. Boxes
were put in strategic points during the days that followed the 100th anniversary of the
Faculty of Agriculture.
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Activity description
During the days that followed the 100th anniversary of the Faculty of Agriculture, a total
of 5 boxes were made available to the public to contribute for the fund raising. The
boxes were placed near the stalls of the Agricultural Society, the BSc Agriscience and
Technology (Minor- agrifood marketing) and that of the BSc Agriscience and technology
(Minor: agricultural extension). The credit of the success of this event goes to 2 of our
members; Ms. Danitza Latour and Ms. Vijaya Poonoosamy who had taken the
responsibility of the boxes and were excellent in their endeavour.
Figure 7: Ms. Vijaya asking for contribution
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Figure 8: The contribution box on the stall of the Agricultural Society
Figure 9: Some young students contributing for the fund raising
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On-going Activity
Project Smart Agriculture in collaboration with AIESEC UTM
Smart Agriculture
February 2014
AIESEC Mauritius
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Smart Agriculture
Executive summary Smart Agriculture aims at exposing international interns from all over the world to the
concept of sustainable agriculture for them to be able to contribute to their country’s
food security through establishment of home gardens.
The participants will be exposed to each pillar of agriculture through courses followed
by a site visit relative to the agricultural sector they have covered. After each site visit
the participants are expected to write a comparative report from what they have learnt
from their site visit and what happens in their individual country.
Examples of comparative reports relative to their country they have to write are:
The pig sector The dairy sector The fisheries sector The poultry sector
In order to be able to write the report, the participants are expected to have a minimum
knowledge on development of the agriculture sector in their country for them to be
able to make a comparison and bring recommendations.
About AIESEC AIESEC is a global youth network impacting the world through leadership development
experiences. AIESEC has been facilitating youth leadership activities as well as
international internships & volunteer experiences for over 65 years, developing a global
learning environment across 140 countries & territories. AIESEC is a global, non-
political, independent, not-for-profit organization run by students and recent graduates
of institutions of higher education. The members are interested in world issues,
leadership and management.
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AIESEC has 7 values which are to activate leadership skills, to demonstrate integrity
during decision making, to live in diversity by respecting the ethical belonging of the
other members, to enjoy participation of activities through creation of dynamic
environment, to strive for excellence by producing excellent results and to act
sustainable in order to achieve long term gains.
Need and Opportunity Analysis
Problem overview As per the Food and Agricultural Organisation (2013) the population will reach the mark
of 9 billion by 2050 and food production needs to be doubled in order to feed the
people. However achieving this aim is becoming more and more difficult since
agriculture is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Agriculture has to face
three challenges: ensuring food security through increased productivity and income,
adapting to climate change and contributing to climate change mitigation. Sustainable
agriculture is one of the most effective ways to produce in the long term while taking into
consideration the various aspects of nature.
Current trends This project believes that the key for a sustainable and peaceful world lies in the hands
of the youth community. It is the good vision of the young people that will help in the
construction of a better world where human beings will have more respect for the nature
and learn to live in harmony with it. Educating the young people about the importance of
agriculture and the impact of climate change during their early initiation will help them
develop an interest in agriculture and farming. This project further seeks to encourage
the participants to think critically and bring about solutions that may help to bolster the
food production both in Mauritius and in their respective country.
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The Mission: Promote the acceptance and adoption of Sustainable Agriculture
among the young generation for meeting the challenge of sustainable and climate –
resilient food security.
Rationale for the project
Inherited farming knowledge
Conventional farm practices (Use of excess pesticides and
fertilizers)
Lack of interest of the younger generation in farming
Potential issues for interns During the course of the internship, there will be several challenges that are likely to be
faced:
Language barrier
Apart from the difficulties associated with start-ups, given the Mauritian reality, one
of the main barriers will be the communication barrier in Mauritius. International
participants who know how to speak
French will be at an advantage. While Mauritians do understand English, most of
them are more familiar with French.
Culture clash
Interaction with a diverse group might cause culture clashes which might hinder the
work that needs to be done.
Knowledge in agriculture
While a lot of the international participants are university students and might like in
urban areas, their knowledge on agriculture might be restricted.
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Opportunity The various positive outcomes of this project are as follows:
General knowledge
The interns will have a good grasp of how the foods they likely consume are
produced and in what conditions.
Critical thinking
The interns are expected to make a gap between the production systems in
Mauritius and from their respective countries. They will also have to make
recommendations so as to improve our production system.
Resources available
Strong and dedicated team of interested members Contacts of stakeholders in agriculture Close collaboration with, and support of NGOs such as Sustainable Agricultural
Organisation and Roches Noir Eco-Marine Close collaboration from semi parastatal bodies such as FAREI
Overview of project Smart Agriculture aims at exposing international interns from all over the world to the
concept of sustainable agriculture for them to be able to contribute to their country’s
food security through establishment of home gardens.
The participants will be exposed to each pillar of agriculture through courses followed
by a site visit relative to the agricultural sector they have covered. After each site visit
the participants are expected to write a comparative report from what they have learnt
from their site visit and what happens in their individual country.
Examples of comparative reports relative to their country they have to write are:
The pig sector The dairy sector The fisheries sector The poultry sector
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In order to be able to write the report, the participants are expected to have a minimum
knowledge on development of the agriculture sector in their country for them to be able
to make a comparison and bring recommendations.
Activities: Timeline
Date Week Activities
12-Dec 1 to 2 Recruitment of team
19-Dec 3 to 4 Finalize trainers and syllabus
26-Dec 5 to 8 Finalize project partners
07-Jan 9 one week buffer
12-Jan 10 Arrival of International Participants
Opening Ceremony, Training of International Participants and Team
formation 15-Jan 11
Submission of project proposal and Start of 19-Jan 12 implementation of project
07-Feb 13 Implementation of project
14-Feb 14 Implementation of project
Implementation of project and closing
23-Feb 15 ceremony
26-Feb 16 Departure of interns
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Description of Events
Week 1 19th- 23rd Jan
Week 2 26th-30th Jan
Week 3 2nd-6th Feb
Week 4 9th-13th Feb
Week 5 16th-20th Feb
Week 6 23rd-26th Feb
Monday climate change + landscaping
Pest and disease
The poultry sector Hydroponics Marine life
Crocodile park
Tuesday Site visit to model farm
Insect collection
Site visit to poultry farm
Site visit for hydroponics
site visit to roches noir
Casela or black river gorges
Wednesday Vegetables The pig industry
The dairy sector Fruit industry
site visit to marine cages
closing ceremony
Thursday Site visit to field
Site visit to pig farm
Site visit to dairy sector
site visit to orchard
Meeting of local fisherman Free
Friday Presentation and feed back
Presentation and feed back
Presentation and feed back
Presentation and feed back
Presentation and feed back Free
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Benefits to Partners
We will be offering the following benefits to our sponsors:-
Organization/company logo on all promotional materials used in the project,
which will be visible through media coverage.
Banner space on the days of the events Invitation
for all events organized for the project
Promotion of organization/company’s logo and profile in the internal AIESEC
system, viewed by 50,000 members.
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On-Project
Prize giving ceremony at APDA to reward the best paintings
Garden Establishment at APDA
Updates
1. Official Meetings
In order to make our meetings more professional, we have decided that all our
meetings and conferences will be in English. Our aim is to promote good
communication skill among our members for them to be able to interact actively
during conferences when they will be representing SAO.
2. SAO Website
IndexOf Ltd which is responsible for creating and maintaining the website of SAO
will soon be proceeding to the contract signing with SAO. At this stage the
company is finalizing some minor details and bugs concerning the website.
3. Sponsorship from Indian oil
The oil company in Mauritius, Indian has sponsored SAO with 10 gifts for the
prize giving to be held at APDA.
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Current Committee Members
President- Mr.Ramborun Vagish
Vice-President-Mr. Lobin Keshwar
Secretary-Ms. Goundan Anushka
Asst.Secretary-Ms. Seechurn Anusha
Treasurer-Mrs. Jhunputh Varuna
Asst.Treasurer-Ms. Theeroovengadum Sadiana Nivershee
Public Relation Officer- Ms. Seerputh soobhashinee
Current Members
Ms.Poonoosamy Vijaya
Mr.Aadarsh Ramdinee
Mr. Jean Dionovan Polimon
Ms. Danitza Latour
Ms. Sivani Ramdewor
Mr. Mohnish Seewoonarain
Mr. Youdiesh Dabeeah
Advisory Committee
Professor S Facknath- Professor in Sustainable Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture,
University of Mauritius
Ms Anishah Aujayeb- Curator of the Port Louis Hub
Dr.Kamlesh Dookayka- Oxford International Consultants (Mauritius) Ltd (OIM)