On July 11, the 2024 sugar campaign began in La Reunion. The sugarcane harvest is estimated at 1.4 million tonnes. This is a historically very low value. These 1.4 million tonnes are the result of the two previous sugarcane harvests. Previously, the average was between 1.7 and 1.8 million tonnes, a far cry from the more than 2 million which were the norm around fifty years ago.
Sugar is the main product in terms of value from sugar cane grown by more than 2000 planters in La Reunion. Since 2017, La Reunion sugar has no longer been protected by a quota and a guaranteed intervention price. It faces global competition in Europe, its place of export.
The abolition of the quota was decided by the majority of European agriculture ministers in 2013. The French minister voted in favor. After this vote, Dacian Ciolos, European Commissioner for Agriculture, visited La Reunion Island to explain the consequences of this reform.
The future of the sector will depend on the strategy of the industrialist, he said. On this basis, the fall in production is therefore linked to the choices of the only company which owns the sugar cane processing industry, and the sale of its products.

Drop of nearly 2,000 hectares in the area planted with sugar cane

How can we explain this drop in production? A study by AGRESTE, the Statistical Service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, provides part of the answer. In June 2024, AGRESTE published a study on the evolution of areas cultivated with sugar cane declared to the CAP. This study is entitled “Analysis of farms which reduce their surface areas or stop declaring cane between 2019 and 2023”. Here is his introduction:

“Between 2019 and 2023, more than 1,100 farms reduced their cane areas or stopped declaring them under the CAP, representing a cumulative total reduction of 1,900 ha. They can be grouped into four categories. 527 planters continue to produce cane, and have reduced their declared areas. 58 other planters have stopped growing cane but continue to declare other productions. For these two categories, these are diversified farms, of which 67% of farm managers were under 55 years old in 2020.”
“Low yields are a factor that partly explains the phenomenon. 342 planters ceased their activity and transferred all or part of their productive areas to a buyer. They are older, 79% were over 55 years old in 2020. These are mainly farms specialized 100% in cane, with higher yields. A final group, made up of 201 planters, no longer declares areas. These plots are not declared by any farmer. These are mainly small sugarcane farms with low productivity. 58% of them had a yield of less than 50 t/ha in 2020.”

Half of the planters affected by the drop in cane surface

These 2000 hectares represent at least 100,000 tonnes of sugar cane. The area planted with sugar cane has fallen by 10% in 4 years.
The study also shows a consequence of the race for productivity. More than half of the farms that abandoned sugar cane had a yield of less than 50 tonnes per hectare. Such a yield would, however, be envied by many African countries which have embarked on the cultivation of sugar cane. But in La Reunion, it is insufficient.
These are small mixed-crop and livestock family farms which are 67% affected by the decline in their sugar cane surface area. However, it is precisely this operating model that was favored at the time of the agrarian reform led by SAFER. The large plantations were divided into small family farms of around 5 hectares. At the time, this area was considered sufficient for a farmer’s family to live with dignity. This is no longer the case.
The crisis is general because the decline in surface cultivated with sugar cane affects half of the farms which deliver their entire harvest to the industrial company Tereos.

What impact on food production?

One consequence is therefore a reduction in the number of farms. This leads to a greater concentration of land, and the abandonment of land deemed not productive enough for the sugar industry strategy.
The reduction in planted areas raises questions. What are the consequences on food production to be developed in order to move towards food sovereignty in La Reunion?
The result of this study therefore recalls the acceleration of the crisis in the cane-sugar-alcohols-energy sector. The low price of cane paid by the industry causes a lack of cash flow. This does not make it possible to prepare for the sugar cane harvest because there is a lack of resources to ensure optimal yield.
Hence the importance of overhauling the sector, in terms of governance and transparency on the profits made from planters’ sugar cane.

M.M.