A Sugar development project is in progress in Tigray Regional State, Ethiopia according to Abaye Tsehaye, Director General of the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation.
More than 40,000 hectares of land has been allocated for a sugarcane plantation, with 10,000 earmarked for the construction of a sugar factory with quarters for employees explained Abaye.
The factory is expected to create employment for 10,000 people as well as enhancing the irrigation development in the area he said.
An irrigation dam will be established to allow residents of the area to engage in fish works said Abaye. The by products from the sugar factory can also serve as fodder for fisheries he noted.In related news the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation, made up of the Wonji Shewa, Metehara and Finchaa sugar factories in Ethiopia, produced 73,862 tons of sugar in the first two quarters of the Ethiopian fiscal year.
The sugar Corporation was able to distribute 206,372 tons of locally produced sugar in the last six months in addition to its imported stock.
The sugar factories were also able to produce 3,885,760 liters of ethanol as a by-product of sugar production to be blended with benzene to lower the costs of gasoline imports.
The three factories were in the process of expansion work up to last October and thus unable to perform at full capacity according to Yilma Tibebu, Head of Public Relations with the Corporation.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency
