Despite South Africa's sugar industry being declared an essential service during the COVID-19 lockdown and the approval of the Sugar Industry Masterplan the industry continues to face a number of challenges which include the flood of cheap imports as a direct result of weak import tariffs.

SA Canegrowers’ member, Lilian Dube says her certified seedcane plot has meant more money in the bank, the opportunity to grow her land under sugarcane while at the same time varying her crops to ensure her family has a good income and is food secure.

South Africa’s commercial sugarcane growers and their leaders are stepping up in support of an industry-wide plan to secure disease-free and true-to-type seedcane for all rural small-cane growers by 2023.

SA Canegrowers officials in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands have thrown their weight behind a poverty alleviation project in a bid to support informal communities impacted by the climbing unemployment in the country.

In an exciting development, SA Canegrowers in Felixton is the first to rollout financial services for small-scale growers in the region.

SA Canegrowers has elected up-and-coming sugarcane growers to its Board in the face of industry research which reveals serious obstacles exist for young aspirational farmers, including limited access to land, financial services and markets, as well as a little or no involvement in policy dialogue.