Environmentalists Try Greening
Central American Sugar
(Reuters) - Environmental groups
are working to set up labeling programs to certify green-friendly
sugar in a bid to cut the pollution caused by this major cash crop.
Building on the success of certified coffee, bananas and other
products, backers of certified sugar believe it will command higher
prices from green-conscious consumers, offsetting higher production
and shipping costs and possibly boosting earnings for farmers.
The common practice of burning cane fields before the harvest is the
main target of environmentalists.
"The burning has to stop. It is an untenable practice," Chris Willie
of the Rainforest Alliance in Costa Rica told Reuters last week.
Huge clouds of choking black smoke from burning cane fields can be
large enough to interfere with civil aviation in the region and in
dry years, can reach the southern United States, triggering air
quality alerts in major cities.
The Alliance is one of three nonprofit groups seeking to reduce
cane-field burning by setting up a certified green sugar program,
but farmers and laborers are reluctant to abandon the practice.
Cane growers deliberately set the fires to burn off the sugarcane's
razor-sharp leaves that can slice through clothes and skin, before
rural laborers enter the fields to cut down stalks with machetes.
Mechanizing sugar plantations would eliminate the need for the
practice but at the cost of depriving thousands of rural workers of
their livelihood.
"We know there are practical reasons for the burning and social
repercussions when harvest machines replace workers. We need to fix
one problem without creating another," Willie said.
Alternative solutions include planting the cane plants farther apart
to give workers room to avoid the sharp leaves or developing
varieties of sugarcane that come with fewer leaves.
However, growers are doubtful whether there is a market niche for
certified sugar like those carved out by organic or
environmentally-friendly coffee, chocolate and fruits, said Byron
Meneses, who manages environmental policy for the Guatemalan sugar
association.
"Right now the market is not looking for any kind of special
certification," he said.
Guatemala, Central America's biggest sugar exporter, expects to ship
1.53 million tonnes in the 2008/09 season.
Guatemalan sugar farmers, like those in other Central American
countries, are developing their own plans to improve environmental
practices, Meneses said, studying ways to reduce burning and protect
riverbanks near farms.
Some growers have begun producing sugar labeled as organic by
reducing the use of fertilizers and pesticides, which helps reduce
the problem of polluted runoff water.
But producers note that unlike coffee or chocolate, sugar is
normally shipped in bulk to keep costs low .
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