Editing Economy of Eswatini (section)

==Sugar industry==
[[Eswatini]] is the fourth largest producer of sugar in [[Africa]] and is 25th in production in the world.<ref name="gain.fas.usda.gov">{{Cite web |url=http://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%20GAIN%20Publications/Sugar%20Annual_Pretoria_Swaziland_4-20-2015.pdf |title=Swaziland Sugar Annual Report 2014-2015 |access-date=2015-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215021802/https://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%20GAIN%20Publications/Sugar%20Annual_Pretoria_Swaziland_4-20-2015.pdf |archive-date=2017-02-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This demonstrates the immense focus of the industry in order to continue to grow their economy. Eswatini's [[GDP]] was $8.621 billion (US dollars) in 2014 based on purchasing power parity and of that 7.2% of that is from the agriculture sector and of that sector, [[sugarcane]] and sugar products have the largest impact on GDP.  According to the World [[CIA]] Factbook, wood pulp and sugarcane were the largest exports of Eswatini until the wood pulp producer closed in January 2010.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/eswatini/#economy/| title = World CIA Factbook, "Eswatini: Economy"| date = 12 January 2022}}</ref> This left the sugarcane industry as the sole main export. The largest company that produces sugar in Eswatini is the [[Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation]] (RES Corporation) and it produces a little under two-thirds of total sugar in the country and produces over 3,000 jobs for the people of Eswatini.  The RES Corporation is composed of two main sugar mill producers, Mhlume and Simunye, which produce a combined 430,000 tons of cane per season. The second largest sugarcane company is Ubombo Sugar Limited which has grown from producing 5,600 tons in 1958 to approximately 230,000 tons of sugar annually. The third largest sugarcane producer is the Tambankulu Estate (largest independent sugar estate) and it produces 62,000 tons of sugar annually on 3,816 hectares of land.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.mbendi.com/indy/agff/sugr/af/sw/p0005.htm#events |title = Mbendi Information Service, ["Sugarcane Farming in Swaziland" |archive-url=https://archive.today/20160518081744/https://www.mbendi.com/indy/agff/sugr/af/sw/p0005.htm#events |archive-date=18 May 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
The largest export partners of Eswatini and the larger [[Southern African Development Community]] (SADC) is the [[European Union]]. The SADC is a group of many southern African countries who have banded together in order to try to improve their individual socioeconomic status. In 2014-2015 the sugar production of Eswatini was 680,881 metric tons and of this about 355,000 metric tons of sugar was shipped to the European Union, larger than any other export partner. Another trade partner for Eswatini was the [[United States]] where they shipped 34,000 metric tons of sugar in the 2014-2015 year under the Tariff Rate Quota. These numbers are up from past years and continue to rise. The expected output based on the 2015-2016 post forecast predictions are that Eswatini will produce 705,000 metric tons, a new record for the country that can be attributed to an increase in land being available for sugar cultivation.  Of this predicted figure about 390,000 metric tons will go to the European Union as part of a new Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). This new agreement between the EU and SADC means that members like Eswatini can sell their sugar on a duty-free and quota-free basis.<ref name="gain.fas.usda.gov"/>

The quotas that the EU and the United States fill is similar to the Sugar Protocol which began in 1975. The goal of the Sugar Protocol was for the EU to purchase and import specific quantities from countries in Africa, the [[Caribbean]] and the [[Pacific]]. These prices and quantities guaranteed production and were well above the world price, which translated into substantial profits for these mostly impoverished countries.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/barbados/eu_barbados/development_coop/sugar_protocol/index_en.htm| title = Delegation of the European Union: 'Sugar Protocol'}}</ref>   This agreement reached an end in 2009 because the EU could no longer support the pre-determined demands. The Sugar Protocol came to an immediate end and was replaced with separate Economic Partnerships with the varying countries and regions. Even though the demands will be just as high as under the Sugar Protocol, the prices will drop significantly.<ref>https://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/news/story/2007/09/070928_sugarprotocol.shtml BBC Caribbean: 'Sugar Protocol Scrapped']</ref>  In the case of Eswatini, they have received good reassurance that their product will still be bought by the EU.<ref name="gain.fas.usda.gov"/>