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- Accept no substitutes - The Gum Belt has the potential to supply all the world's requirements for gum arabic, but investment is required to process more of the raw product.
Gum arabic
has a wide range of applications, from cosmetics to paper coating and
sizing, but it is probably best known as Top-quality gum arabic is colourless, although an aver-age sample is a pale straw colour. Completely soluble in cold water, it is regarded as 95 per cent 'soluble fibre' by nutritional experts. It is generally defined as a polysaccharide dietary fibre with few calories, and studies have shown that it can help reduce cholesterol levels. It is therefore a pity for Sudanese farmers that many of the world's food producers have turned to substitutes for gum arabic.
The existing
potential can meet world demand four or five times over, but the fact
is that today we are only exporting about 50 per cent of what the world
was consuming 40 years ago. About 10 years ago the world was using around
70,000 tonnes of gum arabic every year. Today, it is using about 42,000
tonnes despite the increase in GAC is placing strong emphasis on gum arabic as a natural, organically-produced ingredient. "We are trying to provide the product in a different form because so far we have been trading most of our supply in its simple, raw state." The company is investing in plants which will process gum arabic into a powder form. Mr Karama would like to join forces with an established European company to establish processing plants that meet international standards. "Distribution would ideally be run in a joint venture with European companies dealing with gum arabic," says Mr Karama. "But we also want to stimulate demand in Sudan to cut costs and to make use of the distribution channels that are already in place." He sees potential in using gum arabic in pharmaceuticals - it is one of the oldest and best-known ingredients in cough syrup, and in its spray-dried form it is used as both a carrying agent in capsules and a binder in tablets. Mr Karama says: "We have about five million people who are involved in the harvesting and production of gum arabic - about a sixth of the population. Greater trade would enable us to invest in rural areas and educate people on the benefits of the gum. Farming creates stability and helps prevent people leaving for the urban centres. Therefore the gum trees have other social and economic benefits, and we are trying to preserve this environment." GAC is building a research institute in the Kordofan region. "It is exclusively for gum research and it will also serve as an international contact point for universities and for all the people who want to conduct research in Sudan," adds Mr Karama. At Port Sudan,
the Khartoum Gum Arabic Processing Company (GAPC) maintains a fully-equipped
laboratory and warehouses, smoothly ensuring quality-tested supplies for
export. The company, which is 60 Dr Tom says that, despite GAPC's high standard of processing, many com-panies still prefer to buy the raw mater-ial and process it themselves. He says this attitude prevents third world countries from advancing their economies by adding value to raw materials. "We process according to European standards of hygiene," he explains. "The processing issue is more political than economic because the industrialised countries will not give the third world the technology that will upgrade the processing of gum." |
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