DEVELOPMENT
SA Canegrowers’ Development priorities
Regarding Development, The Regional Services team, supported by the Development department focuses on “Product diversification and innovation”. In addition, training of growers continues.
In order to better the lives of our growers, the following projects were carried out during the 2023/2024 season.
1. Diversification development project funded by SA Canegrowers:
2. Seedcane Development project:
3. Youth internship programme:
4. Transformation:
The sugar industry in South Africa committed to spend over R1 billion during a committed five-year period to support transformation in the sector. Each year, more than R200 million was allocated to transformation programmes. Only Commercial growers and all milling businesses combined, have provided the funding through the industry. A range of interventions were supported in the year under review from providing a premium price for black growers (R44m), production inputs (R50m), transport subsidy (R23m), levy subsidy (R8M), top-up for agricultural training (R10m), youth programme (R5.2m), rehabilitation of small-scale grower irrigation infrastructure (R17.66m), to name a few.
In addition, SA Canegrowers’ through the regions and Development were responsible for the implementation of the growers training for small-scale and land reform growers using utilising the SASA approved Grower Development Account (GDA) funds in the 2022/23 financial year. All trainings were on basic agronomic principals and workshop training offered by the Shukela Training Centre (STC) and the South African Sugar Research Institute (SASRI). Funds were approved at the end of the 2023/24 season and some training funded by the GDA commenced in the last quarter of the season.