Restructuring the Swazi Sugar Industry: The Changing Role and Political Significance of Smallholders

Figures & data

Figure 1. Main features of the Swaziland sugar industry. Source: Paul Satchell, University of the West of England.

Table 1. Changes to Swazi National Land Tenure 1907–1997 (% of Swaziland)

	SNL customary tenure	SNL other
1907 land partition	38	0
1968 Independence	49	2
1997	53	19

In 1997, title deed land extended over a further 27.6 per cent of the country, with 0.4 per cent under Crown Land. Source: E. van Waveren, ‘Land Resource Distribution under Customary Tenure in Swaziland: A Geographic Analysis with Special Attention to Semi-arid Land’ (PhD thesis, University of the West of England, Bristol, Faculty of the Built Environment, 2003).

Table 2. Size and structure of the sugar industry, 1990

Size (ha)	Number of growers	Area under sugar cane production (ha)	Proportion of total area under production (%)
<100	263	1,655	4.4
100 – <1,000	10	2,443	6.6
1,000 – <5,000	8	17,359	46.7
5,000+	2	15,723	42.3

In 1995, IYSIS and MHLUME had amalgamated.¹ This reduced the number of growers in the 1,000 – <5,000 hectare category by 2, and increased the 5,000+ hectare category by 1. Source: Swaziland Sugar Association Newsletter, March 1994.

¹ IYSIS (Inyoni Yami Swaziland Irrigation Scheme) was a large agribusiness located in Tshaneni in the northern Lowveld. In 1995 it amalgamated its sugar estate with the Mhlume (Swaziland) Sugar Company Limited miller-cum-grower to form the IYSIS/MSCo Sugar Partnership.

Table 3. ‘Schedule D’ quota holders and applicants, December 1994

	Quota holders who had planted	Quota holders who had not planted	Applicants awaiting water permit	Total
Associations	17	11	21	49
Members	212	207	not applicable	419
Cane area (ha)	692	571	972	2,235
Quota (tonnes)	7,210	6,150	10,400*	23,760

* Assuming 10.7 tonnes of sugar quota per hectare.

Source: Swaziland Sugar Association Extension Service.