Eswatini Sugar provides extension services through a service level agreement (SLA) entered into with the Out-grower Departments (ODs) of the mills.  Extension officers (EOs) employed by the ODs provide extension services to the growers, which have been expanded to also include conducting seminars and training for growers.  They either do this directly or utilise the assistance of specialists from the Eswatini Sugar office, South African Sugarcane Research Institute (SASRI), service providers or in some instances agricultural input suppliers.
The long term vision for the SLA and extension service is a dynamic process with the objective of moving from mainly supply driven (scheduled) extension to on-demand (on request). The objective of providing the extension service is to improve yields and ensure sustainability through providing technology transfer and advisory service to sugarcane growers on all aspects of sugarcane production. This includes the transfer of research findings approved by Eswatini Sugar to the grower to facilitate the quick adoption of improved agricultural practices for productivity, profitability and sustainability of smallholder farms. The industry has a Best Management Practices (BMP) for Sugarcane Production Manual aimed at guiding and complementing the technical advice given to the growers by the EOs. The Manual is available in English and is updated periodically.Â
The Manual can be obtained in soft and hard copy at a cost from the Technical Services Offices at Simunye. The EOs also have access to the industry database (IDB) where they can view and print information about each grower, as a way of monitoring grower performance.  The IDB provides details on each producer’s cane age at harvest, sucrose content and cane yield, amongst other information.