Nordzucker Post 04/2022 - 25 October 2022

Visit from Uganda and Kenya at the Schladen factory

On 7 September 2022, just in time for the start of the campaign, 22 young farmers from Uganda and Kenya visited the Schladen factory. Within an exchange programme with the Schorlemer Foundation of the German Farmers’ Association e.V., these young people spend a few months in Germany.

Frithjof Pape from the Agricenter in Schladen welcomed the group to a beet field near Schladen. Since sugar cane is grown in Africa instead of beets, the visitors listened to the explanations with great interest. Farmer Moritz Reimer from Hornburg explained the special features of organic sugar beet cultivation.

Clemens Löbbecke from the Harvesting and loading community explained the function of the harvester. Afterwards, the participants were able to visit a loading machine on his farm. The African farmers followed the explanations about the functioning of the machines and the technical explanations with utmost attention.

After this excursion to the sugar beet and the technology in the field, they went to the factory in Schladen. At the beet yard, Frithjof Pape provided information about Nordzucker as a company and the process on a beet yard. The differences to a sugar cane factory quickly became clear. Over a shared pumpkin soup, hosts and visitors had a lively discussion on questions about cultivation, farmers’ pay and the handling of sugar beet. After about three and a half hours, the visitors from Uganda and Kenya left the Schladen factory in a good mood and full of new impressions.