{"id":47037,"date":"2026-10-19T11:03:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T07:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/?p=47037"},"modified":"2026-10-19T11:03:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T07:03:12","slug":"sugar-prospect-and-industrialisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/sugar-prospect-and-industrialisation\/","title":{"rendered":"Sugar Prospect and Industrialisation"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Glimpse into 1961<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

By Peter Ibbotson<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I have been re-reading a series of articles from various learned journals, all by Dr H. C. Brookfield (who is now senior research fellow in geography at the Research School of Pacific Studies at the Australian National University, Canberra) and all relating to aspects of the Mauritian economy. In all he refers, at greater or lesser length, to the problems facing the sugar industry. Let me quote briefly from each:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cProvided that a market can be found for sugar grown above the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement quota, and provided that the price remains remunerative, there seems no reason why sugar production in Mauritius should not surpass 700,000 tons, but it is unlikely that this would be matched by more than a small increase in employment. Benefits would accrue in total income and perhaps in the living standards of the sugar industry labour but the marginal productivity of additional labour might well even decline, if greater efficiency is pursued as an aim\u201d. (Population Studies<\/em>, November 1957, article entitled Mauritius: Demographic Upsurge and Prospect<\/em>). There are, by the way, additional references to this article in the Titmuss Report.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Mauritius cannot stand alone, and the island’s economic position inspires no confidence in the future… It is likely that the number seeking work will double in little more than a generation, and the limitation of resources, coupled with the fact that the recent expansion of sugar cultivation has been achieved without any substantial increase in employment, make the problem one of extreme gravity.” (Article entitled Pluralism and Geography in Mauritius<\/em>, in Geographical Studies<\/em>, No. 1 of 1958). Elsewhere Dr Brookfield has pointed out the number employed in the sugar industry has remained fairly static since that date.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then in Problems of Monoculture and Diversification in a Sugar Island: Mauritius<\/em> (in Economic Geography<\/em>, January 1959), we read that “since about 1953 the guaranteed market within the Agreement, which absorbs normally over 80 per cent of Mauritian exports at the guaranteed price, has ceased its rapid expansion. Prices have become stable and the world \u2018free\u2019 price recessed. Though failure of other producers to utilise fully their quotas has spared Mauritius the need to restrict output, an increasingly static market, more stable prices, and still rising costs would seem to herald a renewed period of some difficulty for the industry.”<\/span><\/p>\n

In the same paper, Dr Brookfield emphasises that continued increases in yield bring the danger of overproduction. He points out, too, that full bulk handling at all stages from factory to ship is probably essential for the future of the sugar industry, yet it would completely destroy the fibre industry. Developments in the sugar industry will, he thinks, tend to diminish the demand for labour which at present exists. (The Meade Report<\/em>, of course, warns against the danger of adopting labour-saving devices which, although they will benefit the sugar industry will nonetheless damage the economy as a whole).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For my final quotation from Dr Brookfield’s articles, I turn to Population Distribution in Mauritius,<\/em> in The Journal of Tropical Geography<\/em>, December 1959, in which he refers to the probable increase in the numbers of those seeking work and says: “Extension of irrigation and the breeding of new cane varieties for marginal conditions… may yield significant new employment opportunities in parts of the leeward coastlands and on the central uplands, but it cannot be expected that population increases in the existing body of the cultivated area will be matched by new employment on a comparable scale. Already the sugar industry’s labour demand is largely satisfied…”<\/span><\/p>\n

Risks of Expansion<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

All Dr Brookfield’s researches and prognostications add point to the recommendation in the Meade Report <\/em>that a tax should be imposed on sugar production in an attempt to prevent unlimited expansion of the sugar industry with the concomitant of overproduction. Many Mauritians to whom I have talked in London in the last few weeks have expressed doubts as to the wisdom of trying to restrict sugar production; they think that the industry can go on expanding and still be able to find a market for the increased production. I am not so sure.<\/span><\/p>\n

At one time the market for Mauritian sugar was in India, South Africa and Australia; but in all these countries, a domestic sugar industry was established with the result that the market had to be changed. Nowadays it is the UK and Canada which take the bulk of the exported crop; only 25,000 tons are consumed locally and in Seychelles. Other sugar-producing countries supply other importing countries; but if importing countries developed their own sugar-producing industries (either cane or beet) then the pattern of world trade in sugar would have to be substantially altered and while Mauritius would doubtless continue to supply to the UK it is possible that the UK’s imports from Mauritius would be lowered and the trade with Canada might well disappear altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ghana and Nyasaland, to name only two countries, are planning domestic sugar industries to reduce (or even abolish) the need to import; the uncertainties of Cuban sugar production might well lead the United States to develop beet sugar; and increased beet sugar production in the Communist countries would leave a larger supply of cane sugar to be disposed of at \u2018free\u2019 prices on the world market. Inside ten years it is indeed possible that the pattern of world trade in sugar will be very different from what it is now; it may well be that quotas for sale to guaranteed markets at guaranteed prices will be lower all round, while the free market supply will be larger.<\/span><\/p>\n

In monetary terms, this may well mean a rather lower guaranteed price for a rather lower guaranteed quota, and a much lower world price for a much larger quantity of \u2018free\u2019 sugar. If expansion continues in Mauritius, this possible prospect could be extremely damaging to the island’s economy, particularly to small planters. Mind you, this is taking a very gloomy view, but it is only fair to paint the blackest possibility. It has been said that China could, and should, be encouraged to consume more sugar.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThink how much the demand for sugar would go up if only every Chinese used an extra spoonful of sugar a day\u2026\u201d I was told. This is true; think how much the demand would go up if everyone in the world used an extra spoonful a day! But to return to the quoted example of China \u2014 if sugar consumption is to increase in China, then it is very probable that it will be through the development of home-grown cane and beet sugar, not through the import of foreign cane sugar (except perhaps under barter agreements with cane-producing countries). No; I am unable to share the optimism that seems to prevail throughout Mauritius — that everything in the sugar garden is quite all right and will continue to be quite all right, presumably to the last syllable of recorded time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unemployment Problem<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If we accept that Mauritius can continue to rely on her sugar exports and rely on the sugar industry expanding its production thanks to technical and technological developments in processing and to agronomic developments in growing and breeding new varieties, we are however still left with the question: \u201cWill the expanded sugar production absorb the increased population?\u201d Since past history tells us that the answer to the question facing the optimists is “No”, both optimists and pessimists have to find an answer to the problem of jobs for the extra Mauritians — for the extra thousands of Mauritians, in fact.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tobacco-growing is too high-cost an industry in Mauritius to be able to compete on the world market as an export crop; but consumption of home grown tobacco can be encouraged by higher duties on imported tobacco, both manufactured and unmanufactured. Bulk handling of sugar will, as Dr Brookfield says, tend to kill the fibre industry; land now under aloes could perhaps be cleared and replanted with other crops. There is land at present waste or under-cultivated which could perhaps be used for food crops, especially potatoes.<\/span><\/p>\n

I agree that Mr Betts’s discussion (in his 1948 report) of the future of the sub-marginal land is over-optimistic; but the soil survey now being undertaken should show which sub-marginal land needs the least treatment to enable it to be put to productive use. Acidity of land can be corrected by the application of fertilisers; disease can be eradicated or at least minimised by pest control; deterioration in store can be obviated by the provision of cold storage facilities \u2014 and thus the objections of the Department of Agriculture can be countered.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tea is, of course, the current \u2018white hope\u2019; it is suited to the climatic conditions of land not suited to the presently available varieties of sugar and it is a high labour crop, which is of course something very much in its favour for the probable overcrowded future of Mauritius. It is very probable that the future for the tea industry is very rosy both on the export market and at home. As the population rises, there will be greater domestic demand for tea, which will help economies of scale, which in their turn will help the price of exported tea to be more competitive on the world market.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the demand for fibre by the sugar industry has lessened, is lessening, and will continue to lessen, there is one product of sisal, which might well be supplied by Mauritius. After decorticating (the fibre separating process), the slimy green sisal waste can be used for the production of hecogenin, the raw material which forms the basis of the drug cortisone. 100 pounds of sisal waste will yield approximately 5 pounds of hecogenin; and the drug cortisone is in great demand for the treatment of rheumatism and arthritis. The demand for hecogenin would seem to be a continuing demand; Mauritius has supplies of sisal \u2014 commercial production of hecogenin might well be not without the bounds of possibility.<\/span><\/p>\n

The answer to the question of how to provide for the additional population is not clear-cut and not easy. The tea industry will no doubt absorb extra workers; preferably peasant families where father is a small grower and his family help him when necessary. The sugar industry cannot well absorb many extra workers; it might help if newly-employed labourers were confined to men who have dependants. If possible, and whenever possible, workers displaced by increased mechanisation ought to be those workers who have no family dependent on their earnings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, employment should, as a matter of elementary social justice, be offered first of all to family men; though there will obviously have to be safeguards against the sugar barons (who have never been noted for their attachment to social justice) using this policy of “family men first” as a means of attempting to reduce wages by saying to a family man “Normally your job would be a woman’s so you’re only going to get a woman’s wage”. (There is an argument here for the introduction of equal pay for equal work).<\/span><\/p>\n

Need for Industrialisation<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Failing increased employment opportunities on the land, either as employed workers in the sugar industry or as self-employed producers in tea or food crop growing (either as individuals or as members of an agricultural co-operative), there remains what the Meade Report<\/em> has suggested and what I have been writing about for some time: an attempt to introduce industrialisation by means of government-sponsored (and if need be, subsidised) industrial estates. I make no apology for returning once again to the example of Malta where over the past few years such a policy has been successfully introduced and implemented.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like Mauritius, Malta is overcrowded and lacks raw materials, but a thriving industrial estate has been developed for the manufacture of a wide range of consumer goods mainly for export but for home consumption as well, as the standard of living and the incomes of the Maltese go up. Hand tools, using imported metal, are a potential manufacture in Malta, for both domestic sale and export — the Canadian market in particular is a valuable potential outlet for Maltese-made tools. The latest companies to decide to set up manufactories in Malta are: makers of infants’ garments; glove manufacturers; nylon and terylene crimpers and sock manufacturers; metalware planters and pressers specialising in tableware; and an electronics company.<\/span><\/p>\n

The last-mentioned is a particularly interesting development. The company in question intends to make semi-conductor devices such as diodes and transistors; such electronic components are an ideal manufacture for Malta because the units are small in bulk yet high in value. At first about 50 Maltese will be employed and all will be specially trained in England; eventually the number of employees will grow to about 1,500. The Meade recommendations suggest that in Mauritius, too, industries should be sought where the articles manufactured are valuable but small; and this electronics factory is just the sort of establishment which fits those requirements.<\/span><\/p>\n

No time should be lost in setting up the proposed Industrial Development Board in Mauritius and in preparing the industrial estates. Dr Brookfield has suggested that the best prospect for employment in the future Mauritius lies in the development of industry in or near the existing towns; his and the Meade suggestions must be acted upon now.<\/span><\/p>\n

8th Year – No 348
\n<\/strong>Friday 5th May, 1961<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 16 October 2026<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Glimpse into 1961<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":47042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[63200,7612,23852,60172,63204,61964,63202,689,48637,605,36,1522,59031,75,1488,3797,32505,4231,63201,63203,5652,63205],"class_list":["post-47037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-agricultural-development","tag-economic-development","tag-economic-diversification","tag-food-crops","tag-h-c-brookfield","tag-industrial-development-board","tag-industrial-estates","tag-industrialisation","tag-job-creation","tag-mauritius-sugar-industry","tag-mauritius-times","tag-meade-report","tag-mechanisation","tag-peter-ibbotson","tag-population-growth","tag-small-planters","tag-sugar-exports","tag-sugar-production","tag-tea-industry","tag-technological-development","tag-unemployment","tag-world-sugar-market"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8QzSF-ceF","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Super-Protest.jpg?fit=1200%2C622&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47037"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47043,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47037\/revisions\/47043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}