Land for sugarcane

by Luca Catalano Gonzaga
Part of Land and ocean grabbing
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The sugarcane industry in Malawi is directly connected to land-grabbing, which has led to the displacement of local communities. In 2009, the government of Malawi began promoting commercial agriculture and supporting land acquisition on behalf of investors interested in conducting large-scale agriculture. The aim was to encourage local farmers to substitute their traditional rice and cassava crop with sugarcane plantations and sell their yield to large sugar refining factories, such as the one in Dwangwa, run by the South African firm Illovo. The problem is that sugar production with its high demand for irrigation and other inputs, only requires large plots. Most of Malawi’s farmers, managing fields of less than a hectare, are forced to give up their land or alternatively to incur in high costs for the farming of their plantations; in the end, they are forced to sell their harvest to the Illovo Company imposing monopoly prices. The injection of outside Government money has been an incentive for wealthy local leaders who used their power to grab land from members of their own communities and then sell it to foreign? investors. This has become a serious problem as entire communities lost their land and their livelihood. Illovo Sugar Malawi is the country’s only sugar producer with over 60% of total sugar sales sold to domestic consumers and industrial markets whilst the rest gets exported to preferential markets in the EU and the US. Illovo Sugar Malawi, in Dwangwa, cover an area of 13,300 ha. Together with the remaining smallholder farmers, Illovo has the capacity to produce 2.4 million tons of sugarcane annually. Today, Illovo Sugar Ltd. is the largest (and cheapest worldwide) sugar producer in Africa, with extensive agricultural and manufacturing resources in six South African countries. Despite being a pan- African Group, its main shareholder is Associated British Foods plc – the second largest sugar producer in the world – which owns 51% of the company’s stock. (text by Luca Catalano Gonzaga).

  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Agricultural worker of the Illovo Company during the sugar cane harvest. Working hours start at 07.00 am and end at 14.00 pm, with an average salary of $ 60 per month.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Illovo Malawi, together with its 3,700 farmers, has the capacity to produce 2.4 million tons of sugar cane and approximately 290,000 tons of sugar annually.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Every year in December, all the seasonal workers are laid off for four months until April of the following year. Most of them work accept this situation at Illovo Malawi and complain about the lack of job security as they are easily dismissed.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Agricultural worker of the Illovo Company during the sugar cane harvest. Sugar is one of the three most important export crops for Malawi, and the EU is an important client. The country’s sole sugar producer is Illovo Sugar (Malawi) Limited, a subsidiary of the UK based multinational Associated British Foods (ABF).
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. The production of sugar cane is also linked to harmful environmental impacts and land grabbing.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. As far as health care is concerned, only permanent and seasonal workers on Illovo Malawi’s payroll qualify for free medical services in company clinics. The seasonal workers have access to Illovo Malawi clinics but they must pay for health care on their own account during lay–off from December to April.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. The lands increasingly destined to the cultivation of sugar cane cause considerable damage to the environment due to the progressive impoverishment of the soil and to the loss of biodiversity, not to mention the contamination of the soil and water resources because of the massive use of fertilizers and chemical herbicides.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Sunday is a day off for all worker; in addition, the working week has been reduced to five days. Nevertheless, the working week still adds up to 48 hours. They work 8 hours for three days and twelve for the remaining two days.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Agricultural worker of the Illovo Company, during the sugar cane harvest. The expansion of land destined for this cultivation is proportional to the increase in levels of malnutrition, as family agriculture and the one destined for local consumption are heavily penalized. The increase of phenomenon such as land grabbing further centralize the ownership of the land.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Agricultural worker of the Illovo Company during the sugar cane harvest. The average monthly net pay including overtime wages and food allowance is about MK 29,000 (€ 60).
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Agricultural worker of the Illovo Company during the sugar cane harvest. The manpower is hired according to the need of the moment. This system penalizes workers, who are forced to work in without much conditions from the point of view of personal safety.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Agricultural worker of the Illovo Company during the harvest. Each worker receives only one personal one personal protective suit per year, but that outfit doesn’t last long enough.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Most of the work in the sugar plantations – planting, weeding, cane cutting and transportation– is carried out by agency workers. Illovo Malawi outsources most of its plantation work tocontractors who engage in a bidding process, and then recruit their own workers who, do not get to sign any written contract. The actual number of agency workers is unknown, but there are more than ten contracting companies that supply workers to Illovo Malawi.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Agricultural worker of the Illovo Company during the harvest. The average monthly net pay including overtime wages and food allowance is about MK 29,000 (€ 60).
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Approximately 4,500 seasonal workers are employed every year during peak periods. These workers sign an eight-month contract every year, running from April to November.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Most of the work in the plantations – planting, weeding, cane cutting and transportation– is carried out by agency workers. Agency workers do not belong to the workers’ union (Sugar Plantation and Allied Workers Union of Malawi) and do not have any benefits. They are not entitled to free medical services, food allowances or free housing.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Illovo Malawi employs around 10,000 people; 55% are permanent workers and 45% are seasonal workers, mainly hired for the harvest.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Although eighty per cent of sugar produced worldwide comes from sugar cane, no more than 4.5 percent of global production is sustainably certified. Twenty percent of all sugar consumed in the EU is produced from imported sugar cane.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. End of the working day for an agricultural worker from the Illovo Company.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Personal washing after a day’s work at the sugar cane plantations of the Illovo Company.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Washing after a day’s work at the sugar cane plantations of the Illovo Company.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Personal washing after a day’s work at the sugar cane plantations of the Illovo Company.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Personal washing after a day’s work at the sugar cane plantations of the Illovo Company.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi,. Washing after a day’s work at the sugar cane plantations of the Illovo Company. Permanent and seasonalì workers are given all the necessary personal protective equipment such as boots, gloves, masks and work suits. However, plantation work is so intensive that protective equipmenteasily wears out, and replacements fail to arrive timely. Hence, many workers still go into the fields without adequate protective material.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. An agricultural worker as he gets to work.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. An agricultural worker while checking the irrigation canals. Most of the women working in the plantations are employed by recruitment agencies.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Workers of the Illovo Company trace a path where poles of electric cables pass, to protect the harvest from flames, as they set fields to fire, a necessary step before harvesting.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Children are currently reported to be employed in the sugar cane sector in at least 15 countries including Malawi.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Agricultural workers during the sugar cane harvesting activity.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Female worker in a sugar cane field.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Loading sugarcane on a truck, headed to the Illovo Company for retail.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Female worker harvesting sugar canes.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Loading sugarcane on a truck, headed to the Illovo Company for retail.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Worker in a sugar cane field.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Worker in a sugar cane field.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. One of the biggest problems associated with the production of sugar cane is referred to as land grabbing. In Malawi, communities often do not formally own the land, while living there for generations. This creates a situation of vulnerability due to investors that acquire the right to lease that very land from their Government.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Woman at work. Local farmers are evicted from their land to make way for an expanding sugar plantation.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Jobs in the sugar cane sector are often insecure, poorly paid and health and safety regulations are not always respected. In some cases even forced labour and child labour is reported.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. End of day work of agricultural workers in a sugar cane field.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Agricultural workers of the Illovo company are preparing to burn the sugar cane fields before harvesting.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Pre-harvest cane sugar field burning is a toxic and outdated harvesting practice that takes place every year from April to November (dry season).
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. The sugar cane industry has been linked to a range of harmful environmental impacts, including loss of animal habitats and biodiversity, excessive water usage in production and processing of sugar cane, soil erosion, and agrochemical pollution of land not to mention water and atmospheric pollution.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Agricultural workers of the Illovo company are preparing to burn the sugar cane fields. Cane grows very tall up to 3 metres/10 feet tall . The sugar cane is fired before harvesting to remove the dead leaf material and some of the waxy coating. The fire burns at quite high temperatures but is over very quickly so that the cane and its sugar content are not harmed.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Practice of burning before harvesting occurs during the entire harvest season (April to November) and causes severe environmental problems. Burning kills microorganisms in the topsoil, it burns the trash that could be used to improve soil conditions (trash is a good source of organic matter and nitrogen), and increases the ozone level in the lower atmosphere.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. In the burning process, the field is set fire to and the leaves are burned off of the stalks. About 80% of the “trash,” including straw, the tops, and green and dry leaves, are burned off. These components constitute about 25% of the entire sugar cane stalk.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Practice of burning before harvesting occurs during the entire harvest season (April to November) and causes severe environmental problems. Burning kills microorganisms in the topsoil, it burns the trash that could be used to improve soil conditions (trash is a good source of organic matter and nitrogen), and increases the ozone level in the lower atmosphere.
  • Dwangwa, Malawi. Sugar cane field burned before harvest. Accidents on workers are common: snake bites, burns, and other injuries to machine operators and vehicle drivers in the sugar plantations.

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