Zimbabwe’s Cabinet has officially approved the Zimbabwe Sugarcane Industry Development Plan (2026–2035), setting in motion a comprehensive 10-year roadmap to transform the nation’s sugar sector. 

Presented to the executive cabinet by the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, Professor Fredrick Shava, acting as the Chairperson of the Cabinet Committee on National Development Planning.

The decade-long policy moves toward deep value addition and agricultural diversification. Under the blueprint, existing milling operations in major sugarcane belts like the Lowveld will receive infrastructure modernisations to transition into highly advanced bio-refineries. 

The plan directs factories to turn sugarcane waste, like molasses and crushed cane residue, into valuable products. 

These include eco-friendly fertilizers, animal feed, and bio-plastics. By making these extra products, the industry becomes less dependent on sugar alone, protecting local farmers from sudden drops in international sugar prices. 

The operational roadmap establishes exact quantitative targets to be achieved by the 2035 deadline, driving major output increases across the entire value chain. 

Agronomically, the government  wants to drive sugarcane yields up from the current baseline of 81 metric tonnes per hectare to a robust 110 metric tonnes per hectare through expanded irrigation reticulation and improved seed genetics. 

This yield optimisation is projected to push aggregate annual sugar production from 400,000 metric tonnes to 500,000 metric tonnes, while simultaneously doubling annual sugar export volumes from 100,000 metric tonnes to 200,000 metric tonnes to secure vital foreign exchange earnings for the Southern African nation.

The plan’s most aggressive expansions sit squarely within green energy and national fuel-security frameworks. 

Driven by the country’s mandatory national fuel-blending mandate, domestic bioethanol output is targeted to climb sharply from 155 million litres to a monumental 600 million litres per year. 

Furthermore, the plan scales up electricity cogeneration capacities at processing facilities from a minor 23 megawatts to 200 megawatts, allowing factories to achieve self-sufficiency while feeding substantial surplus clean energy straight into Zimbabwe’s national power grid. 

Implementation will be managed through seven distinct policy pillars, ensuring smallholder out-grower cooperatives gain equal access to commercial financing, modern tractors, and international compliance certifications.

Source: ChiniMandi News
Image Credit: The Insider