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Dear visitor and international investor,
We
warmly welcome you, if this is
your first visit to Africabiz
Online - The ultimate newsletter
on trading and investing in 49
sub-Saharan African countries.
If you are a regular and faithful
reader, welcome back.
- BAD TIME MANAGEMENT: ANOTHER HANDICAP ON
THE ROAD TO BUSINESS SUCCESS
In previous delivery,
six reasons
behind business failures in African countries had been outlined.
There is one more that had been left out, which is bad time-management. That
is the non respect of meeting-schedule and timing. Most African entrepreneurs,
traditional and modern alike fail to properly manage business- time.
They do wake up early to attend to the business, however time
allocated to solving problems are not rationalized. They spend a lot of time
on trivia and not enough on planning and customer research. They
fall into the time trap.
Once the clientele
established, they do not think ahead to expand the business. And the most killing
behaviour is the non-respect of meeting-time and schedule.
In the early 1980's, I was involved in business planning with
traditional merchants in Abidjan,
Ivory Coast. With one of them in particular, the agreed
meeting-time was set at every Monday to discuss and plan together about how to
improve the business.
I was always present at his office at the agreed meeting-time that is 8:00 AM
sharp. He will show up at 11:00 AM giving bogus excuse like unexpected visits
at his home. Of course, he cannot understand when I charge the missing hours.
I have to explain to him that he was not the only client, and that not showing
up at agreed meeting-time has repercussion on my own schedule and program. I
had to phone to delay or postpone another meeting.
Even nowadays, "modern" African entrepreneurs" do not
respect meeting schedule or timing. And if they do, the meeting is not
prepared to yielding positive results. Time is money had not yet been
integrated by African business people. For more on the matter, click following
link to read about: "Rules
for Running a Meeting."
- SERVICES
AND PRODUCTS FROM Dr. QUENUM & ASSOCIATES / BUSINESSAFRICA (TM)
List of Products and Solutions to trading and investing
in and out emerging nations - and particularly in sub-Saharan African
nations - is here
to review.
We draw your attention to Jobs & Projects'
platform that assists first, project-owners to tender for
the best experts to carry out projects at very competitive costs,
and, second, job-seekers to publish for free R�sum�s/CV to attract project-owners attention.
The Pay-Per- Click advertisement
platform is also the cheapest way to advertise for your business.
-
Contributor's Guidelines
are here to review. Your
contribution on "How emerging nations
and particularly African countries
/ entrepreneurs could bridge the developing
gap" is welcome. You may visit
Africabiz
Online Interactive to
comment about articles posted in Africabiz
Online.
Many thanks for dropping by and see
you here on March 15, 2007.
Dr.
B.M. Quenum
Editor
of AFRICABIZ
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Several business opportunities - component parts of the Integrated Developing Scheme described in Africans, Stop Being Poor! are listed in following table.
| a-
SHEA BUTTER (5,
6, 7,
11, 12,
13)
b- BLUE GOLD (14,
15, 16,
17, 18,
19)
c- FREEZE-DRIED PAPAIN (20,
21, 22
and here)
d-
KENAF (23,
24)
e- VEGETABLE OIL (25,
26, 27,
28)
f- CEREALS (30,
31, 32,
33)
g- FRUITS (34,
35, 36,
37, 38,
39, 40,
42, 43,
44, 45,
46)
h- ESSENTIAL OILS (47,
48, 49,
50, 51,
52)
i- ROOTS & TUBERS (54,
55, 56,
57, 58,
59, 60,
61, 62,
63, 64)
j-
FOWL BREEDING (66,
67, 68,
69, 70,
71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76)
k- FISH FARMING (78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87)
l- BIOMASS ENERGY (89, 90, 91, 92)
m- SUGAR CANE & PRODUCTS (93,
94, 95, |
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SUGAR CANE & PRODUCTS: PART
II - SUGAR-CANE CULTIVATION: SMALL-SCALE GROWERS VERSUS HUGE AGRIBUSINESS CONCERNS
The first
issue pertaining to current series outlined the importance of sugar-cane
as Economic
Catalyst to developing. This current delivery
quickly gives the specifics of sugar-cane's cultivation prior to the issues
that will address the transformation of the crop into added valued productions.
Sugarcane is a perennial plant,
which cultivation requires a tropical or subtropical climate, with a minimum
of 600 mm (24 in) of annual rainfall or irrigation moisture. It is one of the
most efficient plant that
needs a very small amount of sun rays to convert
into biomass. Indeed, it can use only up to 2 percent of incident solar energy
to perform the photosynthesis process.
In prime growing regions, sugarcane
can produce 20 kg for each square meter exposed to the sun.
Sugarcane is propagated from cuttings, rather than from seeds; although certain
types still produce seeds, modern methods of stem cuttings have become
the most common method of reproduction. Each
cutting must contain at least one bud, and the cuttings are usually
planted by hand. Once planted, a stand of cane can be harvested several times;
after each harvest, the cane sends up new stalks, called ratoons. Usually,
each successive harvest gives a smaller yield, and eventually the declining
yields justify replanting.
Depending on agricultural practice, two to ten harvests may be possible
between plantings. Based on Mauritius vast experience in the field,
a cycle of 7 harvests between plantations is the best to keep production-yields
in the upper level in African production areas.
The most important sugarcane pests are the larvae
of some lepidoptera species, including turnip moth, the sugarcane borer, Diatraea
saccharalis and the Mexican rice borer (Eoreuma loftini), leaf-cutting ants,
termites, spittlebugs (especially Mahanarva fimbriolata and Deois flavopicta)
and the beetle Migdolus fryanus, among others.
Sugarcane is harvested by hand or mechanically. Hand harvesting accounts for
more than half of the world's production, and is especially dominant in the
developing world. When harvested by hand, the field is first set on fire. The
fire spreads rapidly, burning away dry dead leaves, and killing any venomous
snakes hiding in the crop, but leaving the water-rich stalks and roots unharmed.
With knives (usually Cane Knives, but Machetes are also commonly used), harvesters
then cut the standing cane just above the ground. A skilled harvester can cut
500 kg of sugarcane in an hour. [Source]
- SMALL-SCALE
GROWERS OR BIG AGRIBUSINESS ESTATES?
Most of the times sugar-cane cultivation in African countries is performed
on 100 to 5,000 hectares plantations integrated with central "big" capacity
sugar refining plants, which require huge capital input in land purchasing
/ renting and preparation, harvesting equipment and transport vehicles. These
big agribusiness concerns need seasonal workers to cope with the harvest.
Another possibility is the cultivation of sugar-cane by small-scale growers
who tend to 1, 2 up to 10 hectares of plantations. That is the option
we would be favoring in the forthcoming deliveries as such a production scheme
would give jobs to thousands of farmers and transformers.
Such a production scheme that would be a component part of an African
country's national Integrated
Scheme would boost economic activities in rural areas in comparison to
a scheme based on big agribusiness estates - option that had been
opted for by most African countries. These
small farmers and transformers products would range from sugar-cane fresh juice,
brown-sugar (muscovado)
, molasses, electricity and ethanol.
A forthcoming delivery of the current
series will further describe such a scheme to highlight the benefits of producing
brown cane-sugar through a network of sugar-cane small-growers and industrialists
- versus the production of refined cane-sugar by huge agribusiness
plantations and big sugar refining plants.
Prior to that forthcoming delivery, Mauritius
sugar-cane industry gives an idea about the potential of the small-growers'
option versus big agribusiness one. In Mauritius the small-scale growers number
28,000 farmers who account for about 30 percent of the country total
production of sugar - that is they provide raw materials to produce,
year in year out, 167,746 metric tons of sugar [based on an average production
of refined sugar totaling 559,154 metric tons for the
past 5 years.] The total cultivation area tend by these small-scale growers
is equal to 12,000 hectares.
That means most of African countries could easily produce enough sugar
to cater for national markets through a network of small-scale growers and
transformers, create thousands of jobs (growers and transformers) and boost
economic activities in rural areas.
- CANE-SUGAR
SUPERVISING COMMITTEE - CSSC
For such a scheme - based on the cultivation of sugar-cane by small-scale growers
(up to 10 hectares each) and the processing of the raw-material by small-scale
transformers who would be producing brown-sugar (muscovado,)
molasses and ethanol) - to be a successful venture, it would be necessary to
setup a Cane-Sugar Supervising Committee - CSSC to provide logistics support
that reads as follows:
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Assistance to cultivation: mechanization of all
practices, including cane harvesting, irrigation and land preparation.
- Supply of high yielding sugar-cane varieties through research centers.
- Supply of fertilizer, herbicide and necessary inputs to the growers.
- Assistance to the transformers (production planning, equipment selection,
production quality standardization. Etc.)
- A central marketing board. Etc.
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| MORE
ON SUGAR CANE & PRODUCTS |
1-
Sugar
Cane Industry, The (Cambridge Studies in Historical Geography)
by J.H. Galloway (Paperback Sep 23, 2005)
2- The
House Surrounded by Sugar
by Leanna Williams (Paperback - Mar 8, 2006)
3- From
Cane to Sugar (Start to Finish)
by Jill Braithwaite (Hardcover - Aug 2004)
4- Cane
Sugar Handbook: A Manual for Cane Sugar Manufacturers and Their Chemists
by James C. P. Chen and Chung Chi Chou (Hardcover - Nov 8, 1993)
5-
Sugar
Cane
by Alex Morgan (Paperback - Aug 28, 2002)
6-
The
Sugar cane factory: A catechism of cane sugar manufacture for the use of beginners
by Frederic I Scard (Unknown Binding - 1913)
7- Sugar
Cane Cultivation and Management
by Henk, Bakker and H., Bakker (Hardcover - Jan 1, 1999)
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8- Sugar
Cane (Tropical Agriculturalist)
by R. Fauconnier (Paperback - Feb 24, 1993)
9- Management
Accounting for the Sugar Cane Industry (Sugar Sciences, Vol 8)
by A. E. Fok Kam (Hardcover - Mar 1988)
10- The
nature and properties of the sugar cane
With practical directions for the improvement of its cultures, and the
manufacture of its products)
by George Richardson Porter (Unknown Binding - 1831)
11- Sugar-cane
and Sugar Industry in Nigeria
The Bitter Sweet Lessons
by Abdul-latif D. Busari (Paperback - Nov 2005)
12- The
2007-2012 World Outlook for Sugar Cane Mill Products
by Philip M. Parker (Paperback - Oct 13, 2006)
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