Boosting Sugarcane Sector For Export Opportunities

Nigeria remains the second largest sugar market in sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa.
With a population of over 202 million people and per capita consumption of about 8kg, opportunities abound for the country to transform this section to become champion in the regional export of the product.
Already, the rising demand for fast foods and ready-to-eat food items due to busy working schedules and shifting dietary patterns of individuals is contributing to the robust growth of sugarcane market.
Experts have forecasted that the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of Nigeria sugar market will reach 3.5 per cent between 2024 and 2032 and in terms of economic viability, sugar is known to be widely used in the pharmaceutical industry to prepare antibiotics and syrup-based medicines, including with the increasing use of sugar in the cosmetic industry.
The forgoing is creating a positive market outlook for sugar industry across Africa and beyond.
However, there remain some huge challenges to overcome even though efforts by the federal government to create self-sufficiency in sugar production and reduce raw sugar imports are yielding results.
The main challenges at the moment include entrenched interests in the sugar value chain, weak infrastructure, poor policy formulation and implementation, limited funding, and insecurity in some of the sugarcane production areas.
Recalled that the federal government in 2012 launched several policies and programmes to address these challenges and position the sector for growth and development. The National Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) contains the strategic road map for the development of the sugar sector as well as the enactment of the conducive policy environment for its implementation.
The NSMP aims to attract investments in domestic production through backward integration programme while offering credit facilities and tax incentives to investors and at the same time imposing duties on imported raw and refined sugar.
The NSMP also targets to increase outgrower activities by providing 50 per cent loan through the Sugar Levy Fund to ensure that 40 per cent of the total cane required by sugar millers is sourced from outgrowers farms around sugar.
However, despite these efforts, Nigeria’s sugarcane production has not increased significantly. According to data from Knoema, Nigeria’s sugarcane production was at level of 1.5 million tonnes in 2021, down from 1.52 million tonnes previous year, this is a change of 1.20 per cent.
The country’s effective backward integration roadmap remains a key component of the NSMP but has proven to be ineffective at increasing outgrower activities due to various factors such as high transport and production costs for hauling harvested sugarcane to the mills, low-capacity building, lack of quality planting materials, inadequate extension services, poor market access, and low profitability.
Therefore, there is a need for more concerted efforts by all stakeholders involved in the sugarcane sector to overcome these challenges and up-scale sugarcane production in Nigeria.
According to experts, Some of the possible strategies include, improving infrastructure: This includes upgrading roads, railways, ports, storage facilities, processing plants, power supply, water supply, irrigation systems, etc. Doing these means reducing transportation costs and time for sugarcane harvesting and processing.
Another area that is worth paying attention to is enhancing policy formulation and implementation: This includes harmonising policies across different ministries and agencies involved in the sector; ensuring transparency and accountability; providing adequate funding; enforcing compliance with laws and regulations; resolving conflicts among stakeholders; etc.
Promoting innovation is also key to achieving better results in sugarcane self-sufficiency. This includes adopting new technologies such as biotechnology; improving quality planting materials; introducing improved varieties; applying best agronomic practices; diversifying products such as ethanol among others.
It is also important for the government to strengthen linkages: This will focus on creating platforms for dialogue and collaboration among government agencies; private sector players; research institutions; civil society organisations; farmers’ groups and cooperatives.
Experts also believe that by increasing awareness about the benefits and opportunities in sugarcane production. This may involve educating consumers about the benefits of local sugar products such as health benefits; economic gains, nutritional value; environmental sustainability; etc and creating demand for domestic sugar products through branding strategies such as logos; slogans; advertisements and others.
Overall, by implementing these strategies effectively, Nigeria can boost its sugarcane sector and become a regional sugar exporter that can contribute to food security, economic growth, and social development in Africa.