Oweyegha Afunaduula
Humans and many other animals, including certain insects, such as bees, like sweet things. It is sugar that makes things taste sweet. In human society, sugar has many uses, from powering factories and cars to curing ailments and aiding agriculture.
Unfortunately, in Uganda in general and Busoga in particular, there is so much ignorance regarding the crop from which sugar is made: sugarcane. All that farmers know is that when they grow sugarcane, they will take it to sugar-extracting factories, and they will be paid for their crop and then proceed to make sugar.
In the past, there were extremely few sugarcane out-growers, in Busoga. All sugarcane was almost exclusively grown by Kasian owners of Kaira Sugar Works. We knew Madhivan, the owner of Kakira Sugar Works was producing tons and tons of sugar from his sugarcane and also sweets and toffee. We thought that was all. Even today, most Ugandans identify Kakira Sugar Works with producing sugar, sweets and toffee in Busoga, the same way Sugar Corporation Lugazi is.
Today, the Government of Uganda has a stake in Kakira Sugar Works. But we hear more about Madhivan than the Government. We don’t know what the government gets from Kakira Sugar Works beyond taxes. Therefore, if Madhivan underpays the sugarcane outgrowers, the government knows. It is not only Madhivan underpaying out-growers for their crop. Many sugar factories are doing the same. And the government, which licensed them knows that farmers are being cheated but prefers conspiracy of silence, reasoning that liberalisation of the economy is at work.
Let me now say something about the process of producing refined sugar, which most Ugandans identify sugar factories with. They know sugar once produced, is used to sweeten tea and certain foods such as puddings and cakes. They do not consider the many by-products of sugar from which the sugar factories get a lot of money.
Firstly, the cane juice is extracted from the plant, leaving behind the dried fibres, called bagasse. The next step involves boiling the cane juice to form sugar crystals, which leave behind a syrup or molasses.
We need to know what happens to the sugarcane parts that do not constitute the sweet component we call sugar. One truism is that the remains are not left to go to waste. This is what most of the sugarcane farmers are kept ignorant of. The truth is that while sugarcane remains the world’s most-grown crop almost on every Continent, bagasse constitutes 30% of the product.
Bagasse is the dried remnants of the sugarcane plant. It can be burnt to fuel the boilers and kilns used in the sugar mills, or in the distilleries used to turn the molasses into alcohol. This renewable energy source reduces costs and makes the process more efficient. Farmers are kept ignorant of all this and only get paid for the sugarcane.
Many people have written that on a larger scale, burning bagasse can help boost a country’s electricity grid. Burning the fibres produces steam which is then converted into electricity using a turbine. In addition to reducing the mill’s energy costs. The excess electricity can be sold to the grid. Thus, the owner of the Sugar Factory gets value-added, which he does not share with the farmers.
From the molasses, the spirit called Ethanol is extracted. Many people think it is just an ingredient in spirits and beer. It can also be used as a biofuel – a pollution-free, greener alternative to the very polluting petrol from petroleum.
Both bagasse and molasses are used in farming, as fertiliser and mulch for crops, and as a fibre-rich animal feed. It is also a food source for cattle, goats, pigs and sheep. That way it promotes growth, gives energy and is high in vitamins and nutrients.
Sugar factory owners sell it and get a lot of money beyond the little money they lose as prices for the sugarcane crop.
Not only that. Molasses are used as medicine. It is mixed with water and given to chickens, pigs and other farm animals to improve a variety of health conditions, due to the high iron, magnesium, potassium and calcium content.
The health benefits do not only apply to livestock. Sugarcane has been used for the past 2000 years. Ayurvedic medicine is an alternative medicine practice originating from Southern Asia. It aids a wide range of health issues, including those of liver, lung and heart as well as coughs, constipation and low blood pressure.
It has been claimed that sugarcane can cure fever, jaundice and sore throats, and strengthen muscles, bones and organs.
As medicine sugarcane is value added beyond the farmer who is satisfied with the little money he gets from the crop on delivery to the sugar factory. This is one reason the Busoga sugar farmers are trapped in poverty. Unfortunately, a lot of the medicinal benefits are lost once sugar is refined. Too much sugar in the bloodstream is a health hazard.
Many Basoga sugarcane growers are sick from high blood pressure and diabetes because when they sell their sugarcane, they avail themselves of sugar and put it in their tea, coffee and porridge, or buy spirits and beers, which contain a lot of sugar.
Many people think that when they eat a lot of chocolate or cake, they assure themselves of better health but they can end up getting all sorts of problems, including obesity. Excess sugar is stored as fat in the body.
Molasses is sold in health food shops as a dietary supplement and alternative to refined sugar. Although it still contains a lot of sugar it is also high in antioxidants and nutrients. Therefore, we have to take molasses with a lot of restraint.
Today, Uganda is assembling electric cars and buses, and may soon introduce electric trains. but can as well begin using ethanol to run cars and other
The USA and Brazil are the two biggest producers and users of Ethanol as fuel, accounting for almost 90% of the world’s usage. In the US, Ethanol is mainly blended with gasoline, so it can be used in most standard vehicles, but Brazil has taken it a step further.
Specially designed flexible fuel cars, which can run on up to 100% bioethanol fuel, account for 73% of Brazil’s cars (as of 2021). When it comes to greener fuel, the rest of the world has a lot of catching up to do. Fossil fuels are becoming extremely expensive for poor countries such as Uganda. Adopting Ethanol as an alternative as farmers are encouraged to grow sugarcane is a good strategy.
In the meantime, however, there is the threat of cartelisation of refined sugar in Uganda and Kenya. It is not a new phenomenon. In twentieth-century Spain, many industries were cartelised, and successfully created and maintained long-standing, mutually beneficial relationships with the State. One of the cartelised industries was the sugar industry. There were sugar and cement cartels.
In the case of sugar, controlling imports was the key to the survival of the General Association of Sugar Manufacturers (Sociedad General Azucarera, SGA). Although small ‘non-associated’ companies survived and competed with it, the cartel became strong when the three main sugar producers agreed not to compete and negotiated with the Spanish Government on tariff protection.
In Uganda and Kenya, sugar cartels were growing in stature at supersonic speed until recently when the governments of the two countries began a joint collection of custom taxes on sugar imported through the port of Mombasa. This dealt a blow to cartels involved in the dumping of the commodity in the regional markets.
According to Dicksons Kateshumbwa, Commissioner of Customs at the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), consignments of sugar cleared at Mombasa for warehousing in Uganda are now handled under the Single Customs Territory (SCT) Arrangement. This allows for joint collection of customs taxes by the East African Community (EAC) partners.
Uganda has also added containerised refined edible oil, second-hand clothes, and shoes, as well as alcoholic and non-acholic drinks for clearance under the seamless tax system. In addition, SCT clearance procedures will gradually be extended to containerised cargo of bitumen, cement and steel products.
For God and My Country
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