Growing sorghum to make clear beer
Zambian Breweries (ZB) has developed a clear beer made from locally grown sorghum. Up until now, sorghum was used mainly in opaque beer brewing, and clear beer was made mainly from imported malt, making it expensive for the average Zambian. The Eagle clear beer offers an entirely new market for a large number of subsistence farmers who for the first time have access to a sustainable commercial market for their produce. Sorghum is Zambia s third most important cereal crop after maize and finger millet. The Cooperative League of the United States of America - Smallholder Enterprise and Marketing Programme (CLUSA- SHEMP), a USAID/IFAD-funded project, helped farmers produce a crop that would meet standards required by ZB. Over 4,000 small-scale farmers are benefiting, selling their sorghum direct to ZB. CLUSA/SHEMP is providing them with loans to procure inputs and implements, and is giving professional and technical advice on sorghum growing and how the harvested crop could meet quality standards. A total of 247 ha were planted for the 2004/2005 farming season. Expected to yield between 170 and 300 t of grain, the total revenue for the season for local farmers is around ZMK216 million (about US$43,200 or 36,250).
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| Format: | News Item biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
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Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
2006
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/48054 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/99628 |
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