Tatenda Chitagu/Hazvinei Mwanaka
CHIREDZI, ZIMBABWE-Zimbabwe’s prospects for a sweet harvest of sugarcane grown mainly in the Lowveld region have been soured by an acute shortage of water spawned by the El Niño induced drought, farmers have said.
This has ignited fears of sugar shortages for both domestic and international markets.
El Niño is a natural climate event that alters worldwide weather patterns by making the surface water of the central and eastern Pacific abnormally warm.
About 370 000 tones of sugar were produced in Zimbabwe last year, after mill failures at Tongaat Hulett’s Triangle and Hippo Valley, which supply more than half of the national demand, halted production.
A recent visit to Hippo Valley and Mkwasine plantations in the Lowveld revealed a sorry state where cane plants suffered stunted growth as major dams that supply them with water are fast drying up.
The area relies on Siya and Manjirenji dams, which were 14,7 percent and 30 percent full respectively, according to figures released by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) last week.
Hippo Valley Sugarcane Farmers Association chair Philip Baloyi said they have now scaled down on their irrigation schedules due to water shortages.
“The drought has hit us hard and now there is water rationing. So what we are doing is that we just water the cane so that it does not wilt. We used to water the cane about three times a week, but now it is just once or twice,” said Baloyi.
“This has greatly affected our yields. We are now anticipating a very low harvest and most farmers will not be able to plant again next year because they would have accrued losses,” added Baloyi.
ZINWA head of corporate communications and marketing Marjory Munyonga confirmed the water rationing schedule, and urged the farmers to use the available water sparingly.
“ZINWA is currently managing supplies from the dams to ensure optimal use of the available water. ZINWA will continue to work with the relevant stakeholders and sugarcane farmers to ensure the efficient use of the water in the dams and for enforcement of water abstraction agreements,” Munyonga said.
Another sugarcane farmers’ union, the Zimbabwe Sugarcane Development Association Chairman (ZSDA) Elisha Tamirepi said electricity shortages that have affected water pumping have also added to the drought woes.
“Most of the farmers rely on electricity for pumping water to irrigate their cane, but we are having serious power shortages. This is on top of the water shortages,” he said.
He added; “So what most farmers are now doing is that when there is water they irrigate one portion leaving another one anticipating that the other one will provide moisture to the other.
“Most farmers will not get much from the sale of their cane, and some plants are a complete right off. We fear shortages of sugar as well next year”
The farmers sell their cane to the country’s biggest and sole sugar producer, Tongaat Hulett, which also plants its cane.
Approximately 1,200 contracted out growers contribute between 40 and 44 percent to the total national cane harvest, according to Tongaat Hulett.
However, Tongaat Hulett played down prospects of sugar shortages, suggesting the shortfall from out growers will be compensated by increased output from the company cane crop harvest.
“We do not expect water shortages to affect our production as the two main water supply systems for the company, namely Tugwi- Mutirikwi and the Manyuchi dams hold sufficient water for another two seasons at a minimum.
“However, the Manjirenji and Siya system serving mainly the Mkwasine area has been affected by the drought as the dams do not hold adequate water to take the farmers into the next season without replenishment,” said Dahlia Garwe, the Tongaat Hullet Head of corporate and industry affairs in an emailed response to HuMFOZ.
Garwe said at Tongaat Hullet plantations, they are expecting a seven percent increase in output from last season.
Industry and Commerce Minister Mangaliso Ndhlovu said the country will effect a contingency plan once there are fears of sugar shortages.
“We cannot talk of contingency plans at the moment as there is no need for one so far,” he told HuMFOZ in a telephone interview.
“The briefing that I got from the sugar industry is that we have adequate supplies till next year. I have not been told of looming shortages. If we are to have shortages as a country, I do not think the whole of southern Africa will be affected because Tongaat has other business units in Swaziland and other parts of the region,” Ndlovu said.
According to the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the El Nino effects have put a strain on Zimbabwe’s economy, leaving more than a fifth of children out of school and a lack of water supplies.
The drought-declared a state of disaster by President Emmerson Mnangagwa-has forced the country to revise its economic growth forecast downwards from 3,5 percent to two percent.