History of Regeneration Mauritius

Is Mauritius uniquely positioned to be a  front runner?

Food security and more sustainable food systems are core challenges for communities and countries across the globe. As a net food importer, its imports make up close to 80% of its total food requirements. Mauritius in particular is concerned by this global challenge. Forward looking visionaries have for decades tried to promote a self-sustaining food industry, but has struggled against a business logic with a singular focus on  financial performance. The challenges have now been further amplified by the Covid-19 crisis, and it is clear that Mauritius, and the world, need to rethink existing structures and solutions for our food systems. 

However, Mauritius is also very well positioned to do something about it. Located in the Indian Ocean, the small island nation has daily interactions with the African continent, Europa and India. Mauritius has this year gained 30 places in the Global Innovation Index Report 2020, leapfrogging from the 82nd to 52nd position, thus securing the 1st place in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Mauritian Government is also committed to pursue its innovation agenda through the implementation of continuous enhanced new measures including the Regulatory Sandbox License, Innovators Permit, National Incubator Scheme (NIS) and has this year launched National Agri-Food Development Programme which aims to promote the Farm to Fork concept, ensure food security and reduce Mauritius dependence on imports. 

This makes Mauritius uniquely positioned to become a regional laboratory and incubator for innovative and sustainable food systems.

In 2020 a mixed group of local and international change makers have discussed how we can come together and improve the food industry, create jobs and work toward the overall betterment of society.

The result of these talks and discussions is Regeneration Mauritius, an open, non-profit and collaborative platform for sustainable innovation. 

Together we embark on a journey with a vision of making Mauritius a regional hub for innovative technology driven and sustainable food systems by connecting talent, technology and capital.

in October we presented the initiative to the RDWG committee at MRIC

A novel partnership model for sustainable change

Regeneration Mauritius is developed based on a proven, but novel, partnership methodology and model for cross-sector collaboration. The model, initially named Front Runner (Pådriv) and later rebaptised as Infrastructure 17.17, has been developed and tested in Norway. The development has been partly funded by The Research Council of Norway. For more information, see http://1717.global

  Regeneration Mauritius is the first organisation to use the model outside of Norway.