Online Reporter
George Maponga in CHIREDZI
IN a landmark development, the Government last week launched the Zimbabwe Sugarcane Industry Development Plan, a strategic blueprint that seeks to transform the local sugar industry and make the country a regional agro-industrial hub in line with Vision 2030.
The 10-year plan dovetails with the Second Republic’s drive to accelerate industrialisation and modernisation through improving efficiency in cane production while also making sure farmers accrue benefits from the entire sugarcane industry value-chain.
Minister of Industry and Commerce Mangaliso Ndlovu, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Management Minister Dr Anxious Masuka, Lands and Rural Development Minister Vangelis Haritatos, together with the Minister of State Security Lovemore Matuke and Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Ezra Chadzamira, launched the plan at Hippo Valley Country Club in Chiredzi.
The five ministers launched the plan on behalf of President Mnangagwa at an event that was witnessed by stakeholders in the Lowveld sugarcane industry, among them representatives of outgrower commercial farmers, Zimbabwe Sugar Association (ZSA), Triangle and Hippo Valley Pvt Ltd, and financial institutions.
This landmark plan is expected to herald a new era in the sugarcane industry through improving efficiency via cutting costs, replacing antiquated milling machinery, and making sure that farmers accrue benefits from the entire sugar-cane value chain.
Zimbabwe currently produces about 423 000 tonnes of sugar annually, and by 2035, sucrose output is expected to have surged to 600 000 tonnes annually, which almost matches the installed capacity of Zimbabwe’s only two sugar mills at Triangle and Hippo Valley.
The plan also envisages increasing annual ethanol output to 600 million litres from the current 155 million litres while also expanding renewable energy production and creating more jobs.
Speaking at the launch, Minister Ndlovu said the launch of the plan marked a defining milestone in the nation’s robust agriculture expansion journey towards rapid industrialisation, energy security, and sustainable economic development.
‘’The Zimbabwe Sugarcane Industry Development Plan (ZSIDP) 2026-2035, a landmark strategy that will guide the transformation, growth and long-term competitiveness of Zimbabwe’s sugarcane industry,’’ he said.
“We aim to increase average sugarcane yields from 81 tonnes per hectare to 110 tonnes per hectare, while raising annual sugar production from 440 000 metric tonnes to 500 000 (600 000) metric tonnes as well as expanding eth-anol production from 155 million litres to 600 million litres per year, strengthening our energy security and supporting the country’s biofuels programme.
To support this growth, we also intend to expand the area under sugarcane by an additional 40 000 to 60 000 hectares, creating new opportunities for investment, employment, and rural in-dustrialisation.’’
The Minister said the strategic blueprint was anchored directly in the National Development Strategy 2 and the Zimbabwe National Industrial Policy 2, and also the Agriculture Food Systems and Rural Transformation Strategy 2, all of which embodied President Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030 of making the country an upper middle-income society.
According to Minister Ndlovu, the plan also outlined the President’s Nyika Inovakwa Neve Vayo mantra.
‘’The sugarcane industry is a strategic pillar of Zimbabwe’s economy and a key driver of inclusive growth, rural industrialisation, and sustainable livelihoods. In
In 2025, the sector contributed approximately 1.4 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while directly and indirectly employing more than 30 000 people and supporting the livelihoods of over 800 000 Zimbabweans,particularly here in Masvingo Province,’’ said Minister Ndlovu.
The local sugarcane industry could not afford to remain inefficient and non-competitive with innovation, industrialisation, and diversification key to higher incomes, increased job creation, and better energy security for Zimbabwe.
Minister Ndlovu noted that the growth in the population of indigenous outgrower farmers to over 1200 farmers who produce about 43 percent of the sugar in the Lowveld showed that the industry was promoting broad-based empowerment of farmers and local communities.
