Ethiopia turns to growing sugar #ethiopia

Eating and drinking in Ethiopia involves a lot of sugar, from
the quintessentially Ethiopian buna (coffee) ceremony to the
fare in pastry shops. But it's expensive to import.
Now the government has embarked on an ambitious project
to grow more sugar to meet that demand - but also to boost
electrical production and to create sugar-based ethanol that
could help reduce car emissions and cut down on fossil fuel
imports.
Ethiopia currently produces about 300,000 tonnes of sugar a
year from three factories, at Wonchi, Metehera and Finchaa.
The factories also generate 62 megawatts (MW) of
electricity, half of which is used by the sugar plants
themselves, with the rest sent to the national electric grid.
Gossaye Mengiste, an official at the Ministry of Water,
Irrigation and Energy, says Ethiopia has the potential to
produce 600 MW of energy from sugar when 13 additional
factories now being built start production - a considerable
boost to the country's national electricity output.
QUADRUPLE THE ENERGY
Altogether, Ethiopia aims to generate up to 8,000 MW of
additional energy by the end of the next year, more than
quadrupling its current 2,200 MW. Most of the energy will
come from hydropower and wind - but waste energy,
geothermal and co-generation from sugar plants are all
part of the strategy.
The government, facing a shortage of at least 200,000
tonnes of sugar a year, as well as persistent electricity cuts
and rising pollution from its busy streets, sees growth in
sugar as a cost-effective, environmental friendly answer.
Ethiopia is working to build a climate-resilient green
economy and aiming for a net carbon output of zero by
2025. Reducing emissions from cars, a big source of
greenhouse gases, is a key part of that, Mengiste said.
Another economic goal is to become a middle-income
country by 2025, which depends on the government keeping
the economy growing at what it claims has been an annual
growth rate of 10 percent a year over the past decade.
The government has focused on increasing use of ethanol, a
byproduct of sugar, as a source of electricity because it's
relatively cost effective and doesn't require a dedicated
factory, so it can act as a supplementary energy source
when needed.
THREAT TO PASTORALISTS?
Sugar plantations, however, need large tracts of lands. The
question of land availability in lowland areas - most of
which are occupied by pastoralists who occupy 60 percent
of the country's land but account for only 11 percent of its
population - may be a difficult one.
Zemdekun Tekle, corporate communications director at the
Ethiopian Sugar Corporation, the state entity that handles
all sugar projects, says the current projects benefit both
local people and the country as a whole.
Planting sugar has created employment for local people and
pushed pastoralists into settling, he said. He pointed to the
Omo Valley where local people produce maize and have
been provided with health clinics, schools and saw mills.
In the area, "graduates are learning practical skills with the
sugar industry, becoming a skilled workforce and eventually
becoming innovators themselves," Tekle said.
Another benefit from the sugar project is that it produces
high-quality cattle feed as a byproduct, helping the
country's large livestock sector which had previously been
hampered by lack of good cattle feed, the Sugar Corporation
noted.
But critics aren't convinced of the merits of the scheme,
saying efforts to expand sugar production are based on a
condescending plan drawn up mainly by people living in
highland areas but affecting the lowland population.
Groups like Survival International and other minority rights
bodies have urged potential donors to shy away from such
projects, which they allege destroy pastoralist populations.
Tekle admitted that such lobbying has reduced the range of
Ethiopia's funding partners.
FUNDING FROM INDIA, CHINA
But emerging economies such as India and China have
already opened their wallets, he said, noting that the visit of
Chinese Premier Li Keqianq in May coincided with a $500
million loan funding agreement for one such project - the
Welkayit sugar factory.
In highland Addis Ababa, a bustling metropolis of more than
three million people, however, businesspeople and residents
alike are more concerned with finding sugar for their daily
needs at an affordable price.
One such person is Tsehay Gebremeskel, who has owned
and run a small café in the capital for more than 20 years.
"I use sugar for the tea, coffee, milk, pastry and juices I
serve to my customers, but I'm having difficulty finding
sugar regularly from the government shop for a price of
1550 birr ($78) per quintal," she said. The cost of sugar is
eating into her profits, from which she pays her employees
and bills for the café and covers her home expenses.
The government plans to meet the sugar shortage by
opening seven new sugar-processing plants by the end of
next year, which will raise the country's production capacity
from 300,000 tonnes to1.2 million tones a year. The plants
will require 348,000 hectares of land, the government says.
The government estimates national sugar demand at about
650,000 tonnes a year, with current shortfalls made up by
imports from Thailand and Dubai. But with added sugar-
growing capacity in place by 2015, Ethiopia aims to export
some 550,000 tonnes, giving it earnings projected at $300
million by the end of next year.