Building Sustainable Relationships
We work with different grower groups in order to source cane as well as providing them with technical assistance to enable them to build capacity and grow their businesses. These grower groups include Phata and Kasinthula in Nchalo aswell as 20 grower groups through the Dwangwa Lakeshore Growers Association in Dwangwa.
We have a team of agriculture extension officers at each estate who are solely responsible for managing relationships with the farmers. Assistance is provided through different grower community programs that are also designed to promote sustainable agriculture through appropriate growing practices as well as ensuring responsible water usage.
Cane Variety and Growing Practices
We grow 14 varieties of cane across our operations in Nchalo and Dwangwa. We harvest around 2.5 million tons of cane every year at both Nchalo and Dwangwa operations. Our cane is grown under the guidance of sustainable agriculture practices that include research on the estate on cane varieties that are resistant/tolerant as well as high yielding with minimal water usage. We also invest in research on effective chemicals that are environmentally friendly. We have in place different irrigation systems such as drip irrigation that allow us to manage water usage. We are also continuously working on water management programs that aim to minimize our overall water usage.
