Sweet Surrender

Zambia is at it again with efforts to woo investors from Asia.

Last week we noted that a company from India was quite keen to invest in the sugar industry in Zambia. The company is targeting the Nansanga farming block which was created years ago to facilitate the agriculture investments as detailed in the Fifth National Development Plan.

It is true that the big investors already on the ground in the sugar industry may have the muscle to churn out huge stocks of sugar so as to not only satisfy the local market, but to also export to the region. This does not in any way guarantee market dominance when new investors come into the sugar sector with the right quantity, quality, and price.

Studies show that customers are driven by better prices rather than marketing gibberish.

Competition is healthy and works in the best interests of consumers. We have seen how the hospitality sector has developed over the years such that in Lusaka one can find guest house accommodation from as low as K100,000 to a high of K500,000 per night. This phenomenon is driven by wide active competition and the same can be realized for sugar too. Let the competition grow and let the quality improve while prices come down.

This clarion call also goes to Agriculture Minister Peter Daka who has spent some time in Beijing at the China-Africa Agriculture forum where he solicited for investment in the Zambian agriculture sector.

Much of the marketing in agriculture has been to attract investment in food production through framing activities targeted on maize and other cash crops. Food processing is the next logical step in order to preserve the national production. Zambia may have done very well with sugar and maize meal, but the nation needs much more food crops to be processed and packaged to ensure food security throughout the year.

China underlines food security and food availability to her people as a national priority. This top of the agenda priority has been the bedrock on which China then launched the Industrial Revolution that developed the country to become the world’s largest producer of goods within 50 years. Statistics indicate that China tops the world production in poultry, pork, and rice. Interestingly though, is that China processes and consumes all the poultry, pork and rice that she produces in an effort to provide adequate and affordable food to the mass population.

The China experience is a good lesson for Zambia and the region. Zambia can take advantage of her centralized geographical location and grow more food to not only feed the nation, but to export to the region as is evidenced by the vibrant sugar industry.

Opportunities exist for the mass production of ground nuts that can be exported in raw form and as finished products. The range of products includes peanut butter, oil, sweets, roasted nuts, and a host of ground nut food products.

Other crops include Soya Bean, Cashew Nuts, and Cassava. All of these crops can be cultivated on large tracts of land and harvested for processing into various food products and animal feed stocks.

Cassava has the potential of being processed into more than twenty different food products that range from cakes and biscuits, to chips and cereals. Evidence of Cassava products in the daily diet can be seen in Brazil and other South American countries where cassava has been cultivated for hundreds of years.

Zambia is blessed with seasonal fruit crops that include Mangoes, Guavas, and Pineapples. There are options for producing these fruits in large quantities and processing them into either fresh fruit products or dried fruit products for export to the regional markets.

Zambia has grown mangoes for decades if not centuries, and still we note that imports of dried mangoes are coming into the country every day until we are able to process our own fruit to supply our own markets.

It is therefore true to conclude that the regional markets are open for marketing our food products even though many countries in the region may grow some of the fruit and other products produced in Zambia. The determining factors are quantity, quality, and processing capacity. These factors decide whether a country has the capacity to supply itself with food products or if they have to import from another country.

The sugar challenge may be the tip of the agriculture and food processing ice berg. Beneath this discussion lie the many opportunities and options that can unlock potential in the nation to rapidly support economic development as has been the case in China and other South East Asian countries.

What may seem as a trivial challenge to new investors in the sugar sector, could be the catalyst for agricultural expansion and food production at unprecedented levels that would tilt the country profile away from fighting hunger and address the nation to the challenge of economic growth that puts the private sector in the forefront of wealth creation and the opening up of new jobs across the nation.

Keeping the population well fed and healthy is a pre-requisite for economic development. The sugar story should be the flag off for competitive investment in all types of food production. One hopes to see the day when the current big players will throw their hands up in sweet surrender as they lose their dominance of traditional markets. The signs are already there. New players are strategically positioning themselves to take on the dominant heavyweights. Complacency will cost existing companies dearly. Proactive re-positioning will be the best route as the inevitable surge of new competition gears itself to challenge the status quo.

Published 17 August 2010