Zimbabwe sugar cane project to be revived

Sugar cane grower and processor, Tongaat Hulett, has revived a plan to develop 4 000ha of land into irrigated fields for about 200 out-growers in Zimbabwe’s south-eastern Lowveld.

The US$40 million

(R560 million) Kilimanjaro Project was first mooted in 2014, but had stalled due to the adverse economic environment in that country.

“The company has determined that favourable conditions now exist, on the back of secure bulk irrigation water, to accelerate implementation of the [project]. The project entails the development of 4 000ha of virgin land into irrigated fields, which will supply sugar cane to the Tongaat Hulett sugar mills,” company secretary Bigboy Shava said.

Tongaat operated two mills in Hippo Valley and Triangle, which processed 4,8 million tons of sugar cane a year to produce 140 000t of refined white sugar, 640 000t of unrefined sugar, and 41 million litres of fuel, he said.

The mills were operating below capacity, as they could process sugar cane from

75 000ha annually, yet at present sugar cane from only 45 000ha was being processed, Shava added. – Thulani Mpofu