The four sugar factories currently operating in Mozambique are employing about 17,130 workers, 2,245 of whom are women, reports Friday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
These figures include those directly employed at the mills, and those working for other companies related to the sector, who are involved in planting, cutting, and transporting the sugar cane.
The National Sugar Directorate indicates that 65 per cent of this workforce are employed in the complexes of Marromeu (6,725 workers - 39 per cent), and Mafambisse (4,488 - 26 per cent), both in the central province of Sofala.
The remainder 35 per cent are in the complexes of Xinavane and Maragra, in Maputo province, in the south of the country.
The two Sofala mills are not reliant on independent suppliers of cane, but obtain all the cane they process from their own plantations.
This year's harvest and processing campaign, that was launched late last month, is expected to produce about 253,000 tonnes of sugar, which represents a 20 per cent increase, when compared with last year's figure.
This growth is despite some setbacks in cane production in all complexes, either because the independent suppliers failed to meet the targets in planting, or because irregular rainfall led to lower production than expected.
Fonte: AIM
