The issue of food and food security is generating quite a bit of buzz here in Mauritius. The Ministry of Agro-Industry unveiled the Bio Farming Zone — some 66 acres of land set aside specifically for the bio-farming (anglicized translation of l’Agriculture Biologique) of different crops including banana, carrots and moringa. This comes in the wake of ambitious plans, announced in 2016, to achieve 50 percent organic food production by 2020.

Shifting to bio-farming, they argue, would result in lesser or no use of pesticides, therefore making local cultivars safe(r) to consume. Mauritian consumers are also demanding organic produce more so than ever before, spurred in part by numerous news reports questioning the quality of local produce.