A plan to make Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world, self sufficient in sugar has been unveiled by US engineering company Schaffer and Associates and has been given the go ahead by the Mali government.

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The cost of establishing sugar cane plantations and a processing factory is estimated to be roughly US$253.6m.


Schaffer believes that the west African country has the right combination of land, labour and water together with the correct economies of scale in terms of production of between 150,000 to 170,000 tonnes per year to make it financially viable.


It is estimated that the project’s preparatory work would take two years to complete, while the factory erection would take a further 22 months, starting mid-2003.


By Richard Hurst, just-food.com correspondent in Johannesburg

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