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for government assistance.
1kambule said some farmers have procured a solar grid to minimise the cost of electricity but a maMority cannot afford the latter.
³$bout 15 farmers have Moined hands to procure a solar grid which was funded by their own income, we
SIHHOYE – As a way of minimising the continuous rise of inputs in the sugar industry, the industry has initiated bulk input procurement facilities.
7his was mentioned by 0inister of $griculture -abulani 0abu]a on )riday during the 66* entrepreneur¶s award competition in 0angweni.
0abu]a said this would help in facilitating that growers can procure input at competitive prices as well as guarantee timely delivery, and correct specifications of input is assured, benefitting from the economies of scale.He said the revolving funds 5) that were operated by the millers to assist growers in resuscitating their farms through replanting of old ratoon fields was also a very good and much needed initiative. 0abu]a said the eligibility to the 5) was still limited to certain growers %ig %end and 9uvulane . However, discussions were ongoing to e[tend the revolving funds to all growers across the industry.
³7he high energy costs render some of the farms unprofitable since all sugarcane production is done under irrigation. the technical services is facilitating the adoption of energy saving prac tices like the installation of solar energy through working with services providers and financiers to ensure that growers can be assisted when in stalling solar energy panels,´ added the 0inister.
0abu]a also mentioned that the government and industry were working closely together to ensure that water security was achieved to counter reTuest a subsidy from government to limit the costs,´ he added.
7he &E2 also mentioned that weath er patterns were a disadvantage to the use of solar as they were not able to produce enough electricity for the farms. He further reTuested that government should reduce the cost of electricity to businesses that con sumed a lot of units.
Expenses
He said the amount crane growers spend on operational e[penses was constantly on the rise.
1kambule also mentioned that farm ing inputs were not the only challenge face by small scale famers, he said access to funds was another challenge.
He said banks were reluctant to fi nancing small scale growers, citing the risk of funding unstable businesses.
He reTuested that crane growers should procure dividends for them to increase funding towards their businesses.
6tandard %ank of Eswatini &hief E[ecutive 0vuselelo )akud]e said lending money to businesses was one of the difficult tasks faced by banks.
He said giving a guarantee that the money would be returned back to the owners was the factor that made it difficult for banks to give such loans.
³,n most cases, we then have to search and run after people who then fail to pay back the loans and most of them always shun away,´ he said.
)akud]e said the role of the banks was to safeguard their money and re invest it to the market for it to grow.
He said if businesses want less in terest charge on their account, they should mind their account conduct to increase faith with banks.
He said the sugar industry works had a good relationship with local banks thus farmers should focus more on performance.
the effects of climate change, which come with erratic rainfall patterns such as e[tended drought periods and heavy rainfall. He said there was a high level committee that was driving this initiative on building more water storage dams.
Sources
He also outlined that there was growing demand from customers to source sugar from sources that can demonstrate that the sugarcane and sugar was produced in a sustainable manner ± that was, making means to protect the environment and preserve ecosystems, labour and human rights practices enforced, through sound governance, developing the economy and the communities. He said the industry sustainability programme was aimed at ensuring sugarcane production and sugar manufacturing was benchmarked against international sustainability standards. 0abu]a mentioned that currently, the industry was fa cilitating sustainability certification with some recognised bodies. Eswatini 6ugar $ssociation $cting &E2 %anele 1yamane added that the production costs have escalated in the past years.
He said the main cost drivers were electricity for irrigation, fertilisers and other agrochemicals for the crop upkeep, as well as the costs of harvesting, loading and transporting the cane to the mill.
He said this decreases production by si[ per cent. 7he &E2 added that the markets were wide but production decreased and it was imperative to address the weather patterns issue.