AGRICULTURE NEWS - Glucose is often the first painkiller given to newborns, but how should South Africa’s critically ill sugar industry be treated?
In two decades, the country’s annual sugar production has shrunk by nearly 25%, from 2,75 million to 2,1 million tons.
Over the same period, we have lost almost 60% of our sugar cane farmers, and other sugar industry jobs are estimated to have declined by 45%.
As in the rest of the world, health concerns and modern lifestyles are leading to stagnation in sugar demand. Demand for sugar in the Southern African Customs Union has dropped from 1,65 million tons to 1,25 million tons a year, forcing South Africa to increase its exports to the global market, where prices are below the local cost of production. Given the increase in exports, the industry now has to absorb losses of approximately R2 billion per year.
Read the full article here on the Caxton publication, Farmer's Weekly
