Mauritius: Feasible opportunities in agriculture sector

The Mauritius Board of Investment (BOI) is inviting investors to invest in the country’s agriculture sector.

The production and processing of fruits has been identified as a viable investment opportunity in Mauritius.

The production and processing of fruits has been identified as a viable investment opportunity in Mauritius.

The following investment opportunities have been identified:

  • Production and processing of baby vegetables;
  • Rearing of cattle for the production of fresh milk, beef / goat/ sheep / pork meat;
  • Production and processing of fruits;
  • Production of flowers for export;
  • Production of bio-fertilisers for export; and the
  • Production of crops like potato, onion, tomato, fruits, maize, etc in Mozambique and Madagascar for export to Mauritius.

Agriculture Sector Overview

Historically, sugar cane cultivation has been the main agricultural activity in Mauritius. As the era of guaranteed price and quota free access for Mauritian produced sugar on the EU market comes to an end, the traditional sugar industry has now transformed itself into a sugar cane cluster producing several types of sugar as well as electricity from bagasse and ethanol.

Other agricultural products, such as fruits and vegetables, are grown locally, though on a much smaller scale. Mauritius remains by far a net importer of food, 70% of the country’s net food requirements are imported.

The recent rise in global food prices caused by the severe shortages presented an opportunity to boost local food production and increase the country’s self-sufficiency level. The government is pushing the agricultural sector in this direction through food security strategies that are already bearing fruit. An innovative step is the local cultivation of rice with the aim of supplying the domestic market and for export.

As part of this move towards food security, a total of 23,500 hectares in Mozambique have been made available to the Government of Mauritius. The Government of Mauritius will be allocating plots of land to private local and foreign investors on the condition that 25% of all crops produced are made available to the Mauritian and Mozambican governments.

Closer to home, the dairy farming sector has become more technological with the opening of hi-tech dairy farms. In addition, the government is facilitating the technological upgrade of small regional cow breeding cooperatives. Milk pasteurisation and packing plants are already operational in Mauritius.

Development of the agribusiness sector is very high on the agenda of the BOI. It plans to attract further foreign investment in areas such as large-scale hydroponic farming, animal feed production, cattle breeding and high value added food processing for export.


Contact Details

Investors interested to invest in Mauritius’ agriculture sector should contact:

Mr Seewraj Nundlall
Director, BOI
Tel: +230 203 3800, +230 203 3800
Fax: +230 208 2924
Email: [email protected]