Sugarcane production declines in Zimbabwe

Speaking before a Parliamentary committee, members of the Zimbabwe Sugar Association (ZSA) said yield per hectare will decline from 120 tonnes per hectare obtained before the land seizures to only 37 tonnes per hectare this year. This will result in a decline of total production from about 585,000 tonnes per year during the pick of sugar production to about 442,000 tonnes.

The ZSA delegation cited the land reform programme, which saw experienced sugar producers being removed from farms. They said there was uncertainty as both old and new farmers are yet to receive leases for the farms, electricity outages, and lack of foreign currency to import machine spare parts among many other reasons for the decline in production levels.

"The delay by government to issue leases to farmers has caused uncertainty. Given that farmers must make investment for long periods, you cannot expect a man to pump his lifetime savings into the crop when he is not sure if he is going to be on that farm for six months."

The association said while it was struggling to meet local demand for sugar, it had regional and international quotas to fulfil. Zimbabwe supplies about 1500 tonnes to the EU, which quota the ZSA said was lucrative and should not be sacrificed. The association also has to supply Namibia and Botswana under the SADC Sugar Protocol.

Sugar is one of the products whose price is controlled by the government, which has not approved a price rise application by the. This has promoted the black market, where sugar fetches more than four times the official price, to flourish. There are also allegations of top government officials illegally exporting sugar to neighbours Mozambique and Zambia.

Zimbabwe Journalists.com