Project Development – Agriculture
- Agribusiness Services
- Agricultural R&D
- Design Services
- Field Engineering
- Irrigation Systems and Management
- Knowledge Transfer
- Performance Improvement – Agriculture
- Performance Improvement – Factory
- Project Development – Agriculture
- Feasibility Studies
- Project Management – Factory
- Smallholder Farmers
- Sugar Factory Services
- Sugarcane Irrigation
Booker Tate has more than 55 years’ global experience in the development of new sugarcane-based projects in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Central and South America, most recently in Mozambique, Indonesia, Peru and Suriname.
The establishment of a new project is a complex process that must integrate factory and industrial specifications, agricultural production systems and community and environmental sustainability.
Booker Tate’s approach is to ensure that the project is kept to minimum cost while achieving maximum efficiency and long-term profitability. This is achieved through detailed planning, effective implementation of the agreed project development programme, and efficient management of operations.
Project Development involves two main stages:
- Project investigation and assessment; and
- Project implementation.
Project investigation and assessment
The investigation and assessment of a new project will include some or all of the following stages:
- Identification of a suitable land area;
- A preliminary desk-based study of natural resources and climatic potential;
- Site reconnaissance study – a preliminary assessment of the technical and financial viability of the project; and
- Feasibility study – a full study of the expected capital and operating costs of the project and its technical and financial viability that can be used as a ‘Bankable Document’. Typically, the feasibility study would include detailed analysis of markets for sugar and/or ethanol, product mix and factory specifications, human resources, infrastructure, financial performance, interaction with local communities and environmental sustainability as well as the agricultural aspects of the new project. It is therefore a fully integrated and in-depth study. A Development Plan is a key outcome of the feasibility study and forms the basis of the project implementation process.
Project implementation
The Development Plan is an essential component of project planning in that it provides a road map to guide the implementation programme towards its target objectives. The Development Plan will include details of the key activities that are required to supply cane to the factory at the right time and in the required quantity. It includes detailed timings of significant actions and outcomes, such as the awarding of tenders for land clearing and major works or orders for machinery, that are essential for meeting critical project milestones. The plan would include phased capital and operating costings.
