TANZANIA PLANS TO RECALAIM MORE ACREAGE OF LAND TO BOOST ITS SUGAR CANE PLANTATION AND IMPROVETHE SUGAR PRODUCTION.
Business News By Leo Odera Omolo in Kisumu City.
In a bid to increase the acreage under sugar production and meet the current shortfall in sugar output, the Sugar Board of Tanzania had embarked on an ambitious project to reclaim part of the Ruipa Basin in Kilombero district in Morogoro region. This concerted effort will release a further 15,000 hectares for cane farming.
The board is the regulator of sugar production and sales in the country. Its managing director, Mathew Kombe, was widely quoted in the media last week as saying that a survey of the area and encroachment valuation is at an advanced stage.
“The additional 15,000 hectares would go along way to supplement the current shortage arable land the sector sorely needs,” said Tanzania Sugar cane Growers Association managing director, Chais Nikokwe.
The country is also refurbishing all its sugar factories, which are yet to put out the 400,000 tones capacity to full use. They have only managed just 290,000 tones. This gives hope to industry’s watchers for further expansion of sugar production in the country with minimal additional factory investment.
Tanzania, according to the influential weekly, the EASTAFRICAN, is also suffering from illegal imports, which are seen locally by experts as holding back development of the sugar sub-sector of the economy.
Even with the combined output, the East African Community’s five member states sugar sector has failed to save the domestic market. However, there is an on-going USD 4.2 million project seeking to modernize sugar production. Of this USD 2.3 million was granted by the Common Funds for Commodities, while USD 1.9 million was raised by Kenya,Tanzania and Uganda.
The project will involve training of sugar stakeholders and importation of about 900 new cane varieties to be tested in the local environment, in a bid to acquire high yield, disease-resistant seeds, with results in, among other things low production costs.
Experts anticipate that after the five years of research, there will be about 10 varieties, which will then be used to transform the East African Sugar industry.
The region’s sugar output would have risen to 1.5 million metric tones per annum.
As of 2008, the East African region consumed a total of 1.2 million metric tones annually. And with output of 1.5 million metric tones after five years, little will be left for export.
Sugarcane is listed among Tanzania’s cash crops. The country has four white sugar manufacturing plants, namely Mtibwa Sugar, TPC Moshi, Kilombero and Kagera Sugar.
The sugar fraternity, under the umbrella of Tanzania Sugarcane Growers Association, has a membership of 18,000 growers.
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