Papel sócio-económico da agro-indústria em Moçambique: o caso do sub-sector Açucareiro

Abstract

The sugar agro-industry in Mozambique reached its peak sugar production in 1972, with some 325 051 tons of brown sugar, employed 45 000 workers of whom 28 900 were permanent, and became the third largest export sub-sector in the country. From 1975 until the second half of the 1990s, sugar production began to decline, and the decline accelerated in the 1980s, which was reflected in the downward trend in exports and in employment created in sugar factories. The main causes were: abandonment of sugar mills by skilled personnel, escalation of the armed conflict, admnistrative pricing below production costs, and lack of foreign exchange needed to finance imports of parts. The development of the sugar agro-industry is expected to contribute to rural development and savings and foreign exchange generation for the country. Probably, the impact of the sugar agro-industry on rural development will be greater with the development of local small sugarcane farmers. Using the "before and after" method, this paper obtained the following results: The rehabilitation of four of the six sugar companies in Mozambique, combined with the institution of mechanisms to protect the domestic market and combat sugar smuggling, allowed sugar production in the country to grow. After the lowest production of about 13,000 tons of sugar in 1992, it reached 171,107 tons in 2002. Direct employment in the sugar mills as a percentage of the economically active population in the districts where the four rehabilitated sugar mills are located was 7.7% in 1997 and 8.7% in 2002. The foreign exchange generated from the export of sugar is even less than the foreign exchange paid from the legal import of sugar and import of the machinery used in the rehabilitation of the sugar mills. Most of the sugar cane in Mozambique continues to be produced by the sugar companies.(TRADUÇÃO NOSSA)