Sweetening the load … providing for the cane logistics and transportation needs of cane growers. CARGO CARRIERS Management Services, through its wholly owned subsidiary Siyazama Sisonke, has developed and implemented an entirely new empowerment model in the sugar industry in Swaziland, based on the Buhle-Betfu model that has been operating in Malelane for three years. The model resulted in the launch of a specialised transportation company – Lugubhu Carriers – designed to assist small sugar cane growers in Swaziland. The new business is based in Mhlume and serves disadvantaged small growers in the Mhlume and Simunye mill areas. Lugubhu Carriers is already providing for the cane logistics and transportation needs of the individual cane growers and cane project groups in the surrounding area - all of whom have contracts with the local sugar mill. Lugubhu Carriers is contracted to transport about 130 000 tonnes of cane from different small grower associations (some 20 groups) and the eventual estimated annual tonnage is estimated to increase to 400 000 tonnes with the inclusion of a targeted wider circle of growers. The company currently operates three cane transportation vehicles – a truck tractor and trailer - and this number is eventually expected to increase to a total of ten. A key ingredient to the success of the transportation empowerment model is the sugar mill’s acceptance of the growers as a collective group, and the assigning of a group ratable for delivery purposes, a spokesman told FTW. This enables total control of the burn to crush logistics cycle, resulting in more efficient cane delivery to the mills, as well as better sucrose yields, he said. The Lugubhu Carriers board comprises three external directors and three representatives of the small grower groups. Cargo Carriers has been appointed to manage the business. The contribution of managerial skills is a key initial and ongoing component of success and the transfer of these skills to local Swazi people is equally as important as the economic empowerment resulting from the model, the spokesman said. The entire venture is designed to maximise community benefits and to ensure that the sugar cane transport business in the area is self-sustaining. And according to the spokesman, the initial signs are good with the company already proving to be efficient and profitable in its first season of operation.
