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Angola Food Processing
The food-processing industry suffered not only from the
general
economic constraints in Angola but also from
government-imposed
import restrictions. By 1988 the industry depended almost
entirely
on imports for its raw materials. By 1985 food processing
had
reached only 37 percent of its 1973 level. The most
successful
branches of the industry were maize processing (84 percent
of the
1973 level), wheat milling (57 percent), and brewing (55
percent).
Since independence, there have been some major investments
in
brewing and soft drinks, sugar processing, baking and
flour
milling, and vegetable oil production. The government
controlled
the bread-making industry and operated eight bakeries.
Considerable
improvements have been made in factory equipment to boost
production; nevertheless, production came to a standstill
twice in
1985 because of a lack of wheat flour.
War and the sudden departure of Portuguese technicians
in 1975
adversely affected sugar production. The main problems
were a
decline in cane production and a deterioration in the
quality of
cane. Formerly grown on large Portuguese-owned
plantations, cane
was produced in the 1980s by state-run organizations
assisted by
Cuban technical advisers. After the Portuguese abandoned
the
plantations, most of the sugarcane plants were not
maintained. The
sucrose content in Angolan sugarcane dropped from a
pre-1975
average of 9.5 percent to an average of only 3.5 percent
in 1987,
making it necessary to grow nearly three times as much
cane to
produce the equivalent amount of sugar. Among many other
problems
that aggravated sugar production were the shortage of
water for
irrigation, lack of equipment and fertilizers, theft, and
poor
drainage in the cane fields. Furthermore, there has been a
large
decline in the area cultivated, inappropriate cane
varieties have
been introduced, and machinery in the sugar mills has
become
dilapidated. Although some sugar was exported at the end
of the
colonial period (18,303 tons in 1973), an average of about
55,000
tons a year was imported from Cuba between 1979 and 1986.
Data as of February 1989
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