Over 70% of the population in Swaziland, the second-smallest country in Africa, live in rural areas and work on small agricultural holdings. While Swaziland is regarded as a lower middle income country, nearly 69% of the population live below the national poverty line. Over 84% of the rural population are very poor, with per capita income four times lower and level of food consumption twice lower than this in urban areas. The sugar industry in Swaziland employs about a third of the country's entire work force and contributes approximately a fifth of Swaziland's GDP.
In this context, Human Dynamics has been engaged to supply technical assistance to support the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development in Swaziland to implement the country's National Adaption Strategy (NAS) for the Sugar Sector, while assuring the successful coordination of the NAS and the effective use of EU funds. The ultimate task is to boost the competitiveness of Swaziland's sugar industry while reducing poverty in sugar regions of the country — by assisting individual sugarcane farmers and their families in lifting themselves out of poverty.
To implement this project, a team of experts has been embedded with the Aid Coordination and Management Section unit of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development and another with key stakeholders, such as the Swaziland Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise and the Ministry of Agriculture. This allows Human Dynamics to maximise the knowledge transfer and opportunities for capacity building with the host organisations by increasing the beneficiary’s exposure to key experts.
A priority of this project has been to partner with stakeholders to ensure the seamless delivery of infrastructure projects. The team have been sharing engineering and technical experience with stakeholders throughout the implementation of projects critical to growing the future of the sugar industry. Further, support has included trainings tailored to the specific needs of each stakeholder, with a stress on increasing stakeholder capacity for long-term strategic planning and business development.
Income generation initiatives, reducing unemployment rate, promoting private sector development, encouraging SMEs, stimulating foreign direct investment, support inclusive pro-poor market, and ensuring food security are key socio-economic development agendas for the Kingdom of Swaziland. The role of the sugar sector in addressing these agendas is in the forefront and the sector should receive diligent attention and be considered as a primary development alternative.
In all our endeavours to contribute to improving the competitiveness of the sugar industry in Swaziland, we must never loose sight of the ultimate beneficiaries, the rural people, their livelihoods and their welfare.