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Sisal, which is not indigenous to Africa, was introduced into Tanganyika (now mainland Tanzania) from Mexico at the end of 19th century. The leaf tissue of this plant yields hard, flexible fibres, which are suitable for making rope and twine, cord matting, padding and upholstery. Sisal accounts for two-thirds of world production of hard fibres, and about three quarters of sisal consumption is for agricultural twine.
In East Africa, sisal grows under diverse ecological conditions ranging from the hot humid coastal region to the cooler and drier areas in the hinterland.
In Kenya, the Department of Agriculture introduced the crop in 1903 after its successful introduction into Tanzania.
In Tanzania, sisal production is mainly concentrated in warm areas along the Tanga Line
Following its introduction its East Africa, mostly by Europeans, a steady demand for sisal fibre in the European market led to rapid expansion of sisal production along the railway lines during the 50 years that followed.
In both Tanzania and Kenya production grew steadily so that by 1967 Tanzania became the world leader in sisal fibre production,, where some 201 estates were growing sisal on 427,000 hectares, and producing over 216,000 metric tonnes (MT) of line fibre. By 1963, Kenya had some 54 sisal plantations with some 102,000 hectares producing over 62,000 MT of line fibre.
However with the advent of man-made fibres in the 1940s, interest began to shift from natural fibres to the cheaper synthetics, and by 1963, demand for sisal in the world market started falling steadily. Since then, production both Tanzania and Kenya has continued to decline.
 By 1996, Tanzania had only 52 estates engaged in sisal production on some 200,000 MT, while in Kenya production fell gradually from the 1963 peak and in 1997 the production was down to 22,000 MT grown on some 112,000 hectares.
The erosion in the export markets, coupled with volatility of the price of sisal fibre on the world market, made it impossible for producers to maintain reasonable levels of productivity. Reduced availability in farm labour and increases in price of production inputs and machinery ate away any profits that could have been reinvested in plantations. Thus, replanting activities all but stopped and general productivity deteriorated.
 No R&D effort has been taken to improve productivity and diversify the utilization of the sisal plant to manufacture other industrial products in addition to the traditionally produced fibre. Production and processing techniques used in the sisal industry today are those developed about seven decades ago. With such reduced levels of production and processing technology input, sisal cannot effectively compete with synthetic fibre in an open market.
Unless the industry opens to new markets and finds ways to reduce production and processing costs, the sisal industry will experience further decline.
The project "Product and Market development of Sisal and Henequen" was approved by the Common Fund for Commodities and is implemented by UNIDO with a special financial contribution from UNIDO and the Government of Belgium. The project is addressing the critical issues indicated above and creates the basis for new possibilities for reviving the sisal industry in East Africa.
The strategic objectives of the project are:
To identify and/or develop and adopt superior planting stock and crop management practices leading to reduction in cost of fibre production.
To valorize sisal waste by utilizing commercially viable processes for sisal waste utilization with positive net benefit in the sisal industry and with minimum and with minimum or no negative impact on the environment
To identify and evaluate both technically and commercially pulping fibre production and extraction systems from sisal including production of staple fibre and sisal pulp in sufficient qualities to undertake commercial scale trials for determination of its suitability for various uses.
To undertake a worldwide market study and trails to establish real and serious demand for sisal pulp of various categories as an alternative to wood-derived fibre and to identify potential buyers
To undertake feasibility studies and design an appropriate commercial scale sisal pulp mill to demonstrate the commercial potential of the mill in order to attract investment.
The activities carried out by the project in Kenya and Tanzania are addressed to achieve these objectives, to create employment and to contribute to improved living standards of farmers, sisal processing workers and the population of the region in general terms.
Among the specific activities undertaken so far by the project the following are of greatest importance:
Multiplying Sisal by Meristematic Tissue Culture (MTC)
Invitro multiplication of the selected species has been done and over 8,000 laboratory plants are ready for nurseries. A total of over 1,000 plants have been planted in field nurseries at both KEPHIS and Teita estate.
The project assisted in creating the laboratory and offering technical assistance services to train the laboratory staff in the new plant reproduction techniques, to avoid culture contamination and to apply correct measures to transfer the plants to the field.
In addition to the trials undertaken at Teita estate, Rea Vipingo also plans to introduce this technique in its estates at Vipingo and Kibwezi.
Improved Flume Tow Recovery System
The project offered technical Assistance services to design, manufacture and test on imp-roved Flume Tow recovery plant from Sisal as an additional alternative to improve the productivity of sisal processing and to reduce costs. Preliminary economic analysis has shown that it is necessary to improve the efficacy of Flume Tow Recovery process mainly by reducing energy costs.
Animal Feed Trails
The project aims at achieving the integral use of sisal plant and has performed trials using fresh and ensilaged sisal wastes (bogas) for feeding beef and dairy cattle, sheep and goats. The International Livestock Research Institute of Nairobi is cooperating the project by preparing the statistical analysis of the achieved results and defines the strategy to be followed.
The projects should also demonstrate the feasibility of establishing small-to-medium size bogas recovery and ensilage unit for smallholders.
Evaluation of sisal varieties for pulp and line fibre characteristics
The project includes among the activities to be implemented the performance of variety trials at ARI Mlingano to evaluate the fibre yields of the different varieties planted. Also the project team is working on the establishment of a sisal gene bank.
Variety Trials in Estates:
Gomba estate ent. Ceps and ultra high density (uhdt) trails
The project undertakes maintenance and data recording for different plantations systems with different plant density per hectare.
The hybrid H11648 at 6.400 plants per hectare was the top performer at 2 years of age after transplantation or 3 years from nursery planting, during the whole plant harvesting and total leaf defoliation undertaken in March 2001.
It is expected that at 3.5 years H11648 production will exceed 25 metric tonnes per hectare in-situ fiber, which makes the pulp production from sisal competitive on the international markets. The results obtained have encouraged farmers to join the project. Ten farmers have shown interest in planting 200 hectares of high-density fields and had already started land preparation by the end of September 2001.
Gomba fertilizer trial
The project personnel trained the filed assistants in taking records of plant growth, leaf unfurling, pest and disease control. Marked differences were observed between the fields planted with nursery material and those planted from suckers. Environmentally friendly fertilizer, including decomposed sisal waste, as well as needed insecticides were procured and applied.
Special attention should be given to study and eliminate the Korogwe Leaf Spot disease as an important quality of the pulp.
Evaluation of smallholder farming system in Estates
Involvement of smallholders in the project is one important step towards the sustainability of the project. Planting of smallholder sisal has continued on the estates. Mwelya estate is dealing with 152 hectares planted since 2000. Planting for the period was 70 hectares despite financing problems for land preparation, planting and maintenance.
A Brazilian delegation consisting of three professors and one executive officer visited the scheme at Mwelya estate and Mara Region. They signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Tanzania Sisal Board and Mara-Farmers Initiative Project and promised to start training people in handicrafts during the third quarter of 2001, as one additional element of project diversification and promoting the participation of women in the project.
Meristematic Tissue Culture
The project assisted the Tanzanian Sisal Board to create a meristematic tissue culture laboratory specialized in reproduction sisal plants. Through the project technical assistance services, technology transfer and on-the-job training assistance were offered to the Sisal Authority and the laboratory staff. By the end of December 2000 around 4,000 plants were cultured with the target being to establish a pilot production line of 10,000 plants by the end of 2001. There are problems to be solved such as browning and failure to produce shoots. It is necessary to improve the staff skills and adjust the research techniques.
Biogas Energy from Sisal Wastes
The project , with the assistance of the Danish Technological Institute, successfully concluded a special study to evaluate the possibilities of producing biogas from sisal waste. The encouraging results of the study indicate that it is feasible and advisable from the economic point of view to produce energy utilizing the wastes from the decortication system. From the environmental side, it is an optimal approach for integral and cleaner utilization of the whole sisal plant. The CFC, the Tanzanian Sisal Board and UNIDO are presently cooperating in the design of a pilot project to demonstrate the feasibility of the new, alternative and cleaner energy production approach.
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