A Policy Dialogue meeting in view of the preparation of the 2022-2023 Budget was held, this afternoon, between the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Dr Renganaden Padayachy, and the Attorney General, Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Mr Maneesh Gobin.

In a statement after the meeting, Minister Gobin emphasised that to ensure food security, there is a need to adopt a multidisciplinary approach. He stressed that this year, the country has been facing the unprecedented combined impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war.

He recalled that the country relies on imports for many products including fertilisers that are in turn used for food production locally. We should therefore reconsider our import strategy and tap into our capacity to produce our own fertilisers locally, he pointed out.

Mr Maneesh Gobin spoke about the need to opt for alternative fertilisers, and said that he proposed for the elaboration of Special Schemes for local production of fertilisers. He underlined the relevance of the Zero Budget Natural Farming scheme to boost local production of alternatives.

The Minister also pointed out that he discussed with the Finance Minister his intent to promote the production of superfood for both local consumption and exportation.

Another topic brought forth during the meeting was the review of the Cargo Capacity Scheme following the spike in freight prices and the need for collaboration among different concerned Ministries to this end.

The Attorney General also informed that he requested for funding for the major digitalisation reform regarding providing free access to an electronic revised edition of all Acts, including regulations that will be published on the web portal of the Attorney-General's Office, as well as enabling the online application for Certificate of Character.