France - Réunion

Reunion is the only French administrative department situated in the southern hemisphere, in the south west of the Indian Ocean. It is 210 kms from Mauritius and 880 kms from Madagascar. From the relief and the climate of the island results a large variety of landscapes: its centre is mountainous with its two volcanoes, its cirques with abrupt faces and its numerous waterfalls. With an active volcano, the island has a wel marked relief and a culminating point at 3070 metres. Its rainfall is contrasted (annual downfall of 700 to 4600 mm following the regions).

The diversity of climates has given birth to a wide range of products from purely tropical crops (mangoes, sugarcane, vanilla, vanille,...) to crops characteristic of more temperate zones (potato, strawberry, ...).

To the 1st of January 2009, thre was about 800 000 habitants (INSEE), for an approximate density of 282 inhabitants per km². Most of the population live along the coast, where is also concentrated most of the economic activities. The GDP of Reunion is of 9 317 million euros (INSEE). Agriculture represents 2,22 %, i.e. just less that metropolitan France (2 %).

Metropolitan France furnishes 62 % of the importations and receives 67 % of the exportations. The exchanges with countries of the IOC (Indian Ocean Commission) which groups Madagascar, Seychelles, Comoros and Reunion represent 1,3 % of the importations and 6,9 % of the exportations. Sugar exportation in 2003 represents less than half the export of goods. The agreements with the freight transporters have facilitated the exportation of litchis and mangoes (1 753 t of fruits in 2003 against 1 376 t in 2002).

The mountainous and uneven relief of the island explains why the SAU (used agricultural area) represents but one-fifth of its area (half in metropolitan France). The arable areas, 36 000 ha, constitute three-quarters of it. Sugarcane occupies 60 % of the used agricultural area, vegetable crops 3,7 %, area still grass-covered 21 %.

The cultivated areas in sugarcane has passed from 30 570 ha to 26 000 ha in 2000. The objective is to go back up to 30 000 ha. Taking into account the valued agricultural production and not the occupied area, the repartition between the fruit and vegetable industries is almost equal (34,7 % of the agricultural production increase in value) which comes first, followed by the animal production and finally sugarcane with 31% each.

The reunionese agriculture has succeeded to diversify itself and thus answer the local market demands. The production of fruits and vegetables satisfy 80 % of local needs; the bulk market at Saint-Pierre is the tool of this success: it drains 30 % of the production. As regards agricultural employment, the part of agriculture represented in Reunion 6.5 % of the active population in 2003 (19 579 persons : chiefs, total familial population and employees), distributed on less than 8000 farms (minimum: area of 1 ha). In 2003, the average area of farms, though modest with 5,8 hectares, was on a more than 20% increase compared to 2000.

The agricultural production of Reunion consists in three main poles of production which are :

•  Sugarcane production for the sugar industry,
•  productions from plant diversification (vegetable, arboricultural and horticultural productions) mainly for the local market;
•  breeding productions also for the local market.

Those thee main sectors of production represent each in value approximately 30 % of the total agricultural production of Reunion.