‘Redistribute sugarcane plantations’
Sunday, 15 July 2012 00:05
Emilia Zindi
Government has been called upon to redistribute thousands of hectares of sugarcane plantations in the Lowveld to indigenous landless people of Zimbabwe who are yearning for a chance to break into the lucrative industry.
The call was made by the Zimbabwe Sugarcane Development Association (ZSDA) chairman, Mr Edmore Veterai, who expressed concern over Tongaat Hullet, which still owns about 29 000 hectares of land, saying it should be redistributed under the land reform programme.
Addressing sugarcane farmers at a general meeting held in Chiredzi over the weekend, Mr Veterai said it was worrying that thousands of hectares under sugarcane are owned by a single company.
“It is my hope that the 29 000 hectares of land that are owned by Tongaat Hullet will be redistributed in a proper and equitable manner so that everyone benefits. The Hippo Valley workers who have the expertise should also get land. They must all have land,” he said. Mr Veterai urged sugarcane farmers in the Lowveld to continue working hard towards cane production so that the gains of the liberation struggle would not be reversed.
Sugarcane farmers in the Chiredzi area have for a long time been struggling to produce on the farms due to limited access to financial assistance as well as the absence of a Government subsidised input schemes. As a result, most farmers have been forced to engage in contract farming with Tongaat Hullet.
Farmers argue that the company should be mandated to focus on milling only.
Tongaat Hullet’s chief executive Mr Sydney Mutsambiwa confirmed his company’s operations in Zimbabwe comprise 29 000 hectares of developed cane-land and 15 880 hectares being farmed privately.
He said the company also has 42 000 employees working in six African countries namely Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa.
Mr Mutsambiwa claimed the company also plays a leading role in uplifting the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans.
“Tongaat Hullet Zimbabwe is involved in many socio-economic development programmes, including private farmer cane-land rehabilitation through SusCo, a national herd development project in which so far 30 bulls have been donated to various communities in Masvingo province, procurement of goods and services from local communities worth $113 million, purification of Chiredzi town water supply, provision of education support to 11 787 pupils through our 21 schools as well as education welfare support to surrounding communities, among other projects,’’ he said.
Labels: LAND REFORM, SUGAR CANE, TONGAAT HULETT LTD
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Venture into sugarcane production, farmers urged
Monday, 07 November 2011 00:00
Masvingo Bureau
Vice President Joice Mujuru has challenged communal farmers in and around Chiredzi to venture into commercial sugarcane production. She said the farmers should utilise two sugarcane mills at Hippo Valley and Triangle estates that are operating below capacity due to depressed cane supplies.
Thousands of these farmers, she said, could transform their lives by taking advantage of the mills owned by Tongaat Hullet. The mills are producing nearly 400 000 tonnes of sugar out of their installed milling capacity of 600 000 tonnes per annum.
Speaking after touring the Joice Mujuru irrigation scheme in Chiredzi, VP Mujuru urged communal farmers to take advantage of the sugar mills.
"I would want to urge people in this area to seriously consider sugarcane production.
"Commercial sugarcane production will change people's lives as there are many Zimbabweans earning money out of sugarcane production."
She was however, unhappy that more than 1 000 new sugarcane farmers at Mkwasine, Hippo Valley and Triangle Estates were not from Chiredzi district. She said Government, the provincial leadership and sugar companies would engage the local leadership on ways local people could benefit from the projects. VP Mujuru also toured the Joice Mujuru Crocodile Farm which has more than 200 crocodiles.
She said Government would assist the crocodile farmers with access to markets for their crocodile products.
"I want to emphasise that it is very important for communities to realise that they should not wait for the Government to initiate development for them."
She said the communities should be at the forefront of development and production.
"Communities should work for Government not for Government to work for them.
"Once there is production in communities the sources for taxes by Government increases and that engenders development and prosperity," she said.
Besides crocodile farming, villagers at Joice Mujuru Irrigation Scheme are also involved in crop production.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, JOICE MUJURU, SUGAR CANE
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Sugarcane farmers get lifeline
Sunday, 16 October 2011 01:24 Agriculture
By Emilia Zindi recently in Chiredzi
HUNDREDS of sugarcane growers in the Lowveld who were set to lose farms for failing to utilise land productively have been thrown a lifeline after sugar milling company Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe unveiled a US$3,5 million credit facility.
Under the facility, the farmers are expected to receive fertiliser, seed, pesticide, herbicide, fuel and tillage services during the 2011/2012 summer cropping season.
The firm has also pledged to settle their water and electricity bills.
Commercial Sugarcane Farmers’ Association of Zimbabwe chief executive Mr Daniel Tsingo said the initiative would ensure growers rehabilitate farms where the crop is more than 10 years old.
He said the association was upbeat about the scheme whose inputs will be availed before the onset of the rains.
“We are happy and credit will be offset after we sell the crop,” he said.
Under the scheme, the firm will provide tractors, rippers, disc harrows and ridgers for land preparation. Agro-chemicals and labour are also part of the package.
Each farmer will get assistance on 10 hectares over two seasons with the more than 600 farmers in the region expected to rehabilitate a cumulative 12 000 hectares.
Local farmer Mr Patrick Sibanda lauded Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe for introducing the scheme.
“We are more than pleased as we are now able to plant new crops. We could not have done it on our own,’’ he said.
Another beneficiary, Mr Hezekiah Mhunduru, was optimistic most farmers would meet production targets.
“If the crop is fed well, one would produce between 80 and 100 tonnes of raw sugarcane. Eight tonnes of the cane can produce a tonne of sugar,” he said.
“This scheme is different because there is no demand for collateral. All we have to do is pay back through the harvest we will deliver to the company.
“Also important to note is the fact that there is no way input prices can be inflated. Everything is in black and white.’’
Mr Micah Sinaravo of Farm 29 Sub-Division Four said: “I really appreciate this scheme because I do not have the requisite equipment to make for a viable farming venture. This initiative has come at the right time.”
Most farmers in the region were allocated properties under the land reform programme. They, however, failed to fully utilise the farms owing to crippling financial challenges.
The farmers could not rehabilitate flood irrigation systems and plant the crop anew.
This resulted in large portions of land lying idle for years.
Local district lands committees subsequently recommended that the farms be repossessed, a move the Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement thwarted.
A good number of farms were a hive of activity when The Sunday Mail visited Chiredzi last week with land preparation in full swing.
Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe managing director Mr Sydney Mtsambiwa could not be reached for comment.
Labels: SUGAR, SUGAR CANE, TONGAAT HULETT LTD
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Govt audits sugarcane plots
Masvingo Bureau
Government has embarked on a
comprehensive audit of sugarcane plots allocated to thousands of farmers under the land reform programme in Chiredzi. The State seeks to stem under-utilisation of land and familiarise itself with challenges facing the farmers.
Most resettled sugarcane farmers in Chiredzi, Triangle and Mkwasine in the Lowveld have been operating below capacity while others abandoned their plots altogether due to operational constraints.
Sugarcane farming is capital intensive and many resettled farmers have been grappling with shortages of funding and equipment.
Masvingo Governor and Resident Minister Titus Maluleke last Friday said: "We had to embark on the land audit to familiarise ourselves with the extent to which our new farmers are grappling with the challenges of sugarcane.
"It is also important to ensure there is no underutilisation of land allocated by Government because we want production.
"Quite a number of farms are being underutilised, so its either we repossess them for re-allocation or we assist the farmers."
He said Government was devising ways of capacitating the farmersd to consolidate the land reform programme.
The governor said they wanted struggling farmers to opt for contract farming or joint ventures with capital-rich individuals.
Cane farmers’ associations in the Lowveld have repeatedly exhorted Government to support them in the manner that tobacco and cotton are backed by various inputs facilities, equipment and training schemes.
Labels: LAND AUDIT, MDC, NEOCOLONIALISM, SUGAR CANE
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14-year land lease for cane farmers at KASCOL expires
By Mwala Kalaluka in Mazabuka
Fri 29 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT
THE 14-year land leasehold for the over a hundred small-older cane farmers at Kaleya Small-holders Company Limited (KASCOL) in Mazabuka has expired.
KASCOL chief executive officer Rama Varma told a visiting delegation from the African Development Bank (ADB), Finnish Embassy in Zambia and the Ministry of Agriculture last Tuesday that the company was in the process of re-extending the 160 small-holders’ land leasehold.
“The lease has expired. Now we are trying to extend the lease period for another 14 years,” Varma said.
Varma said the out grower company had teething problems in the beginning because it lacked the capacity to repay its loans but that it has been able to do that now.
“Today we are existing with no loans in our books of accounts,” he said. “Today when you look back it is a success story.”
However, Varma said they had continued to pay for water from the adjacent Zambia Sugar’s Nakambala Estate.
He also said in view of the tricky scenario in the procurement of fertiliser on the market, KASCOL usually procures the inputs in advance and supply to the small holder cane farmers on credit.
Varma said the yields among the small holder farmers varied but that on average the cane farmers could sell between K45 million and K50 million on an annual basis.
“The early cutting of cane does factor in problems,” said Varma. “Those people who are cutting their cane early stand to lose out.”
Labels: ADB, KASCO, RAMA VARMA, SUGAR CANE
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Chiredzi cane farmers clinch deal
Masvingo Bureau
The Commercial Sugar-cane Farmers’ Association of Zimbabwe in Chiredzi has secured 200 tractors from a local firm in a multi-million-dollar farm mechanisation deal that will cushion some 600 indigenous cane producers in the low veld.
The tractors will be delivered in batches starting next week. Addressing hundreds of cane farmers at a meeting in Triangle at the weekend, association chairman Mr Admore Hwarare said the tractors would soon be delivered. Mr Hwarare said arrangements had been made for farmers to pay for the equipment over a five-year period at concessionary interest rates.
"We will soon take delivery of 200 tractors from Farmers’ World for cane farmers and it is our hope that these will go a long way in cushioning those whose operations were being hampered by lack of their own equipment.
"Many previously relied on hiring equipment from established milling companies whose charges are prohibitive.
"Our eventual goal is for each and every farmer to be independent in terms of equipment as we move towards consolidating the gains of the land reform programme.
"Arrangements have also been made for beneficiaries of the tractors to pay over a five-year period," said Mr Hwarare.
He stressed the importance of new farmers drastically increasing their sugar output and redeeming the Government’s decision to allocate them land in the capital-intensive industry that was previously a preserve of the white minority.
Mr Hwarare said indigenous farmers’ sugar output had plummeted to around 200 000 tonnes last year due to a myriad of problems, notably lack of equipment and other critical inputs such as seed and fertilizers.
Financial institutions have also been reluctant to support new cane farmers.
The cane farmers association chairman also revealed that they could contribute about 50 percent, or 300 000 tonnes, of cane per annum if given adequate support.
Labels: SUGAR CANE, TRACTORISATION
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ZCC welcomes sugar imports
By Joan Chirwa and Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Friday June 06, 2008 [04:00]
ALLOWING imports of sugar in a convenient manner will assist in addressing interests of consumers on the local market, Zambia Competition Commission (ZCC) acting executive director Thula Kaira has said. And Shoprite and Spar have received consignments of sugar with a two kilogramme being sold at an average of K9,000.
Kaira in an interview said the government could find a way of allowing imports of sugar while protecting its own industry.
“In our view, allowing imports of sugar in a controllable way could address the interests of consumers,” Kaira said. “Again, allowing imports should not have adverse effects on the local market. We need to come up with long-term solutions to certain situations, not only when there is a crisis. In the current situation where there is a shortage of sugar, it was important for Zambia Sugar, as a monopoly supplier to notify consumers so that government can find ways of mitigating the deficit.”
Kaira further said the commission had received numerous complaints from industrial users of sugar on inadequate supply of the commodity.
“In the circumstances, it would appear plausible that imports should be encouraged as there is no stringent requirement that industrial sugar be fortified with Vitamin A at the point of entry,” Kaira said. “On the other hand, it would be critical for Zambia Sugar not to lose its domestic market for commercial sugar. To ascertain this, there would be need for assurances from Zambia Sugar that they would favourably satisfy local demand.”
And by Wednesday afternoon, Shoprite and Spar had stocked both brown and white sugar on their shelves.
Workers at Shoprite confirmed that one-kilogramme packets of sugar were received on Tuesday night while the two kilogramme packets were stocked on Wednesday. And a check at Spar Arcades revealed that the chain store had enough stocks of sugar, although demand for the product was not much.
“We are not having many people coming to buy sugar because they don’t know we have it in stock,” said one of the shop attendants at Spar Arcades.
Zambia Sugar on Monday announced that it would soon flood the market with its products so that sugar prices could get back to their original trading levels of K8,500 per two kilogramme packet. The shortage of sugar on the local market resulted in an inflation of prices to an average of K20,000 per two kilogramme packet.
Labels: SUGAR CANE, ZCC
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Zambia Sugar blames shortage on poor harvest
By Joan Chirwa
Saturday June 07, 2008 [04:00]
GOVERNMENT will not hesitate to take necessary measures once Zambia Sugar fails to satisfy the local market, commerce permanent secretary Davidson Chilipamushi has said. And Zambia Sugar Plc managing director Paul De Robillard has, among other factors, blamed the sugar shortage on the company’s failure to harvest adequate cane last season owing to the above-normal rainfall experienced in most parts of Southern Province.
Speaking in Mazabuka on Thursday when he toured the Nakambala Sugar factory to assess the progress made in production to meet demand for sugar, Chilipamushi said the government would not allow any exports of sugar until such a time when local market had adequate supplies of the commodity.
He was reacting to reports that Zambia Sugar exported close to 3,000 metric tones of sugar to the Great Lakes Region between March and May this year. The most recent export from this year’s production was 30 tonnes of sugar that was sold to Burundi in May.
Chilipamushi earlier indicated that the government would import sugar should the shortage of the commodity persist on the local market.
“It is not government’s intention to interfere in the running of businesses but just to ensure that interests of both consumers and producers are taken care of,” Chilipamushi said.
Zambia Sugar has however maintained that only 30 tones of sugar had been exported to Burundi late last month following a breakdown of the system.
“From this year’s production, we have only exported 30 tonnes to Burundi and that was after a truck slipped through the system and we will stand by that,” said Zambia Sugar Plc’s marketing manager Rebecca Katowa. “We are now putting our major focus on distribution of what we are producing to fill the gap in the market.”
And De Robillard said the heavy rains experienced during the last season greatly affected the company’s production during the last financial year.
“We planned on having 265,000 tonnes but we only managed to produce 234,000 tonnes,” De Robillard said. “The other problem is that the heavy rains affected our expansion programme as we had to delay construction works. Yesterday (Wednesday), tandem two started operating. We are sure that by next week, all lines will be operating and we will be producing close to a thousand tonnes of sugar per day. Our plan for 2008 is to produce 270,000 tonnes of sugar. Since local consumption only constitutes 40 per cent of our production, the surplus will then be exported.”
The shortage of sugar on the local market forced traders to inflate prices to an average of K20,000 per two kilogramme packet.
Labels: DAVIDSON CHILIPAMUSHI, SUGAR CANE, ZAMBIA SUGAR COMPANY
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