Tongaat Hulett support for Zimbabwe sugar cane project
4 November 2011 | 14:50pm
StockMarketWire.com – Zimbabwe vice-president Joice Mujuru has visited a sugar cane farming community project which is being supported by Tongaat Hulett.
The project aims to help private farmers increase their supply of sugar cane to 1.4 million tons (equivalent to 180,000 tons sugar) from the current 488 000 tons sugarcane (equivalent to 61,000 tons sugar).
The project will re-establish the farmer sugar cane production area from its current 9,100 hectares to 15,880 hectares with an anticipated improvement in yields from 54 tons cane per hectare to at least 90 tcph.
The direct beneficiaries of the project include some 872 sugar cane farmers from the Hippo Valley, Triangle and Mkwasine Mill Group areas.
As a result of the project, the number of people employed by the private Farmers will increase from approximately 3,600 employees, currently employed, to some 6,300 employees.
The revenues arising from the growth in farmer sugar cane production will increase from $29m to $86m, at current prices.
Tongaat Hulett CEO Peter Staude and its Zimbabwe MD Sydney Mtsambiwa joined Mujuru on a tour of the project along with Masvingo province governor and resident minister Titus Maluleke, BancABC CEO Hashmon Matemera and the EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Aldo Del’Aroccoa.
They met leaders from the sugar can farmers’ association.