Deal #4459

Company website states 20 000ha. Other sources state 25 000 ha concluded size and 30 000ha intended size. The cassava seedlings plantation by Sunbird will over the years cover 10,000 hectares. By 2022, nursery of up to 1,200 hectares suppling the out growers [data source 10]. In 2022, the company ran a 3,000-hectare cassava plantation and was in the process of setting up an ethanol plant [data source 11].

A biorefinery processing plant will convert cassava feedstock into anhydrous ethyl alcohol. The project includes both a cassava plantation and a processing facility. Additionally, another source mentions that ethanol produced from cassava will be blended with petrol. Waste from the biorefinery, along with other biomass, will be converted into renewable energy.

MOU with China New Energy for building the plant. Nursery being established and opened by the President of Zambia in January 2020. The company will start building the bio-refinery plant this year (2020), which is expected to reduce the country’s fuel imports by 10 percent. As of 2022, contract farming was enforce and the company had planted on a nucleus farm. The investor was reportedly looking for investors for the biorefinery and cassava plant.

about 20,000 smallholder cassava farmers are expected to supply feedstock to the facility. 2000 initial farmers selected. Vana, an Indian company, is contracted to design and implement the cassava out-grower programme. Mr Benette says 5,000 small-scale farmers will be recruited on the project this year (2020) and the remaining 15,000 will be put on the programme by 2021. Company website shows only 2,500 out-growers were recruited for the 2020 season.