Story by Gay Matambo
A group of sugarcane farmers and government officials from Malawi have embarked on a study tour of the sugar industry in the Lowveld to deepen their understanding of sugar production.
The Malawian team comprising 29 farmers and nine officials visited sugarcane plantations in Chiredzi and the Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe Sugar mills this week to explore sugar production in Zimbabwe.
Speaking on the sidelines of the tour, the Malawian delegation expressed their newfound appreciation of the sugar production sector in Zimbabwe.
“We have learnt several new things here. We have visited the agronomy section where the way they do things is a bit different from what we farmers in Malawi do. As a result, we are taking home new techniques we have learnt how to put fertiliser using a drone. We went to the agro engineering field where they told us the new type of growing,” said a farmer from Malawi.
Another said, “Most importantly we learnt issues to do with the importance of irrigation because in our country we are just at juxtaposition to the lake and our lake has fresh water we have plenty of arable land that is underutilised so we will push for the government to start a project that will assist farmers with irrigation development.”
The visit was also a platform for local cane farmers to exchange notes with their Malawian counterparts on sugarcane production.
“This visit is a result of a visit that our own farmers did in September 2023 in Malawi. They saw what they saw and felt that the Malawians could learn one or two things from us and them learning as well from them. That is why they are here,” said Zimbabwe Sugar Association Experiment Station Director, Dr Audrey Mabveni.
Principal Secretary in charge of irrigation services in the Ministry of Agriculture in Malawi, Engineer Geoffrey Mamba commended players in the local sugar industry for efforts made in advancing sugar production, sentiments echoed by Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Malawi Dr Hudson Mankhwala.
“We came here to learn how farmers here do sugarcane production from the farm to processing and marketing. We have seen that in terms of the management and research, you are really beyond what we do and therefore we want to replicate what farmers here do in Malawi,” said Mamba.
“This is a reciprocal visit to the embassy initiated that we should participate and support to monitor the level of interactions, the lessons that have been learnt amongst the two stakeholders,” noted Mankhwala.
The Lowveld is home to sugarcane plantations at Mkwasine, Triangle and Hippo Valley estates, with the two sugar mills in the area having an installed capacity of close to 600 thousand tonnes annually.
