The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN)
hosted its second high level policy dialogue at the Shandrani Hotel, Mauritius, 28 – 30
March 2004. The objectives of the meeting were to enable senior policy advisors to dialogue and reach consensus on the priority policy issues that need to be addressed to speed up agricultural
recovery and come up with regional policy recommendations for onward transmission to
the SADC Ministers of Agriculture. The following recommendations were made on policy measures to achieve permanent recovery in the agricultural sector: improved macro economic policies and access to resources; markets and trade to facilitate commercialisation of smallholder agriculture;
disaster preparedness strategies; specific policies for each of the three groups of farmers
(commercial, emerging and subsistence farmers); empowerment of farmer organizations
to participate effectively in the policy process; long-term support to research in
appropriate technology; strong farmer-research-extension linkages; diversification from
traditional staples such as maize; practical demonstration of political commitment; and
promotion of national and household food reserves. The following bankable actions to achieve the key policy measures were identified: improve macro economic policies and increase agricultural finance; facilitate access to resources (land, input technology, information, seeds); develop intra-SADC and
international markets and trade to facilitate commercialisation of smallholder agriculture; develop regional disaster preparedness strategies;
