OVERVIEW Sugar
Training and research
Mpumalanga has the secondbiggest sugar industry in South Africa, after KwaZulu-Natal. TSB Sugar runs three mills in the Lowveld region, two of which have refining capacity, and employs about 4 700 people. More than 1 400 farmers (commercial and small-scale) deliver sugar cane to the company. TSB brands are Selati (sugar) and Molatek (animal feed). TSB’s three mills (including Pongola in northern KwaZuluNatal) have been able to maintain volumes because of extensive irrigation schemes. The company was bought by RCL Foods in 2014. TSB Sugar has been increasing the amount of cane it takes from community trusts and small-scale growers. The proportion of land used to harvest cane from smallscale growers on community land has grown to 15%, with 64% coming from commercial farmers and community trusts and 21% from TSB’s own land. About 44 000ha in the province is under sugar cane. Commercial farmers account for 27 000ha, emerging farmers for 9 500ha and TSB Sugar has 7 800ha of its own. The Akwandze Fund, an initiative of the Liguguletfu Cooperative and TSB Sugar, makes loans for small-scale farmers. Liguguletfu came into existence with small investments from each of the coop’s 889 members, which eventually amounted to R5-million in share equity. TSB Sugar matched this rand-for-rand. Farmers must join a savings scheme to belong, and Akwandze has more than 1 200 customers.
Nelspruit is the location of one of South Africa’s premier research institutions, the Agricultural Research Council – Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Crops (ARC – ITSC) in Nelspruit is a leader in research. Specialising in crop varieties and research into the origin and cure of diseases, the ITSC has had success with avocadoes (new root stock), coffee yields and banana cultivars. The Lowveld Agricultural College offers a range of diplomas in Nelspruit. A new satellite facility is being developed in the Nkangala District Municipality on the site of the old Marapyane College of Education near Siybuswa. The college offers three-year diplomas and two-year certificate courses in crop production and animal husbandry. Some students go on to study further aspects of agriculture at the University of the North West. The Buhle Farmers’ Academy has campuses at Delmas and Piet Retief and runs successful training farmers for existing farmers. Trainers like Mposa Agricultural Consultants provide SETA-accredited courses and the academy claims that just 8% of its graduates have remained subsistence farmers, with 53% producing at a commercial level. Funders include Monsanto Fund (USA), the Maize Trust, Standard Bank, Tongaat Hulett Starch and Omnia. Lebogang Molefe, who completed a poultry production course at Buhle in 2015 and now runs a farm with up to 3 000 chickens per cycle, is quoted on Buhle’s website, “This farm is paying the rent and buying food for our family of four.”
ONLINE RESOURCES ARC-Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Crops: www.arc.agric.co.za Citrus Growers Association: www.cga.co.za Deciduous Fruit Producers Trust: www.dfpt.co.za Fresh Produce Exporters’ Forum: www.fpef.co.za Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture and Rural Development: www.lda.gov.za National Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: www.daff.gov.za Perishable Products Export Control Board: www.ppecb.com South African Cane Growers’ Association: www.sacanegrowers.co.za South African Macadamia Growers’ Association: www.samac.org.za South African Subtropical Growers’ Association: www.subtrop.net South African Sugar Association: www.sugar.org.za
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MPUMALANGA BUSINESS 2017/18