Industry organisation the South African Cane Growers Association (SA Canegrowers) says that, following the disbursement of transformation funding this month, the sugar industry has met its objective of investing more than R1-billion in transformation funding over five years. The funding has been critical in sustaining the livelihoods of more than 21 000 small-scale growers and their farm workers, as the industry has endured waves of crises over the past five years, says SA Canegrowers chairperson Andrew Russell.