The Malawi government through the Ministry of Trade and Industry says Cyclone Freddy which the country experienced last year led to the scarcity of sugar in the country however since the Salima sugar company has started its cycle the market will be flooded with sugar at normal prices.
Minister responsible, Sostain Gwengwe made the remarks on Tuesday during the opening of the season at the Salima Sugar factory in Salima.
Gwengwe indicated that the start of sugar production at the factory will help fix the shortage of sugar in markets and stabilize prices.
“Malawi is a sugar exporter but last year’s production was seriously affected by Cyclone Freddy which led to scarcity of sugar in the country since December. Salima sugar has started its cycle today and we are flooding the market with sugar at normal prices and people will not scramble for the commodity anymore,” said Gwengwe.
The Minister added that for Malawi to be economically mature it needs to focus on production than trading.
“It is important for Malawi to escalate production using commercial agriculture which will align to pillar two of Malawi 2063 to spur economic growth,” he added.
In his remarks, the Executive Chairman for Salima Sugar Company Limited, Counsel Wester Kosamu, stated that the company has already embarked on several activities to ensure that Salima Sugar is available on the market.
“We have already earmarked 1,000 hectares of land on which we plan to plant cane. We are also planning to expand the milling to produce more sugar as our sugar has been scarce on the market,” said Kosamu.
He added that the company advertised for distributorship and they have signed contracts with distributors that will be selling sugar across the country.
He also highlighted that the company plans to collaborate with over 250 small-scale farmers who are managing cane around the factory and give the idle land the company has to other small-scale farmers willing to work with the company with each farmer expected to get two hectares of the land.
Meanwhile, Salima Sugar Company has opened its first-ever depot at Siyasiya Trading in Salima district, where it plans to sell its sugar to people around the factory before spreading across the country.
