Our priorities in action

In October 2011 in Mozambique, we launched the first-ever commercial-scale, cassava-based clear beer - Impala.

Cassava is a difficult crop to use on a commercial scale, because the root deteriorates quickly once it's been harvested. That said, it's also one of the most widely-grown crops in Africa. We therefore saw an opportunity to create a new market for subsistence farmers and help them to earn an income, often for the first time. We joined forces with DADTCO (Dutch Agricultural Development and Trading Company) and came up with an innovative solution - a mobile processing unit that we can send to cassava-growing regions to process the crop on the farm, ready for the brewery.

Through Impala we'll create additional income for over 1,500 smallholder farmers, helping them to raise their families' standard of living. In recognition of its contribution to agricultural and economic development in Mozambique, the government has introduced a new excise category for beer made from cassava. And because we're using a local crop, it costs less to produce than other clear beers and we can sell Impala at a lower price - 70% of the price of mainstream lager. This makes it affordable for consumers who might otherwise be drinking informal or illicit alcohol.

Grant Liversage - Managing Director, Cervejas de Moçambique.

Find out more in the film below which shows the production process of Impala and looks at some of SABMiller's other agricultural programmes across Africa.

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