SA Sugar's Master Plan: Not As Sweet As It Seems

The much-vaunted, but yet to be signed, South African Sugar Cane Value Chain Master Plan is aimed at getting the country’s long-ailing sugar industry out of its financial difficulties. But as admirable as its goals are, the plan has overlooked a number of critical socio-environmental sustainability aspects, according to Boudewijn Goossens, Bonsucro’s regional director for Africa.

- Boudewijn Goossens

South Africa’s annual sugar production has decreased by an average of almost 25% over the past 20 years. This is due to a combination of challenges, such as changing weather patterns, the impact of global warming, unfavourable tariffs, and the sugar tax. The South African Sugar Cane Value Chain Master Plan to 2030 aims to return the industry to success. However, it is lacking in its social and green strategy.

The master plan seeks to help companies ‘improve their industrial capacities and sophistication’. It suggests that the sugar cane value chain needs to be competitive and sustainable in order to ‘preserve and grow rural employment and sustainable livelihoods’. Although the terms ‘sustainable’ and ‘sustainability’ are used 17 times in the plan, details are missing on how to tackle both social and environmental sustainability factors that will contribute towards building a modern, competitive and inclusive industry.

Congratulations are in order to all who contributed towards the master plan. This is a crucial document that everyone working in the industry has been waiting for. I believe it gives direction and opportunity for innovation and new thinking. But, as a representative of the global social and environmental sustainability movement, I know that the social and environmental strands of the strategy should be bigger and bolder.