Seychelles participated in the Regional Consultation and Validation Workshop for Developing a Roadmap to Leverage Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization for Climate Smart Agriculture (SAM4CSA) in Southern Africa, held in Johannesburg, South Africa from the 14th to 16th May 2024. Representing Seychelles were Mr. Roy Govinden from the Agriculture Department within the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change, and Environment, and Mr. Andre Sopha from the Seychelles Farmers Association, representing the private sector.
This workshop, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization Sub-regional Office for Southern Africa (FAOSFS) in collaboration with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat, aimed to promote Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization (SAM) across Southern Africa. The initiative is part of a Technical Cooperation Project (TCP-SFS-3903) focused on developing a SAM roadmap that aligns with the continental Framework for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization in Africa (F-SAMA) and addresses the unique agricultural, agro-ecological, and socio-economic conditions of Southern African countries.
The workshop’s objectives were to present and refine the draft SAM4CSA regional roadmap with input from participants, identify opportunities for partnerships, resource mobilization, and investment from governments, development partners, and the private sector, support the establishment of a Regional Committee on Agricultural Mechanization (ReCAM) and National Committees on Agricultural Mechanization (NaCAMs), and raise awareness about SAM and Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) to gain stakeholder support for the proposed roadmap.
The workshop successfully presented a reviewed, revised, and validated draft of the regional SAM4CSA roadmap. It also provided support for establishing ReCAM and NaCAMs in the participating countries, and significantly increased awareness and stakeholder buy-in for SAM4CSA, fostering momentum for agricultural mechanization in the region.
Seychelles’ active participation in this crucial workshop underscores its commitment to advancing sustainable agricultural practices and addressing the challenges posed by climate change through innovative mechanization strategies.