David Olala's dream of building a house for his family and paying school fees from sugarcane proceeds has been shattered.
The 43-year-old farmer from Homa Bay is now staring at loses as his produce is drying up after harvesting it more than three weeks ago.
No factory has come to pick the cane from the field for processing despite having matured.
The value of cane depreciates because of loss of sucrose content as they dry up in the farm.
Olala is among many farmers in Kanyabala location, Homa Bay Town constituency, who have been waiting for days for millers to collect their crops for processing.
They depend on a local miller, Sukari Industries Ltd in Ndhiwa, to collect their produce for processing.
“I wanted to build a permanent house and pay school fees for my children with the money from the cane. My dreams are now shattered since the cane has dried up,” Olala said.
He said he hired youths to help him harvest the cane at 18 months to avoid the produce from getting over-mature.
Speaking at his farm in Nyakaiye village, Olala said he has gone to Sukari Industries Limited in Riat market to have the crops, in a three-acre land, collected in vain.
“I have gone to the factory three times to ask them to collect the produce. They have given me false promises and now my produce is drying up,” he said.
Ruth Auma faces a similar situation as she has also been waiting for her crop to get harvested and taken to factory for processing.
She said delayed harvesting is making her crop to get over-mature.
“We’re considering growing crops like maize, sorghum, millet and others because cane farming is impoverishing us,” Auma said.
Farmers in cane growing areas are raising concern saying sugarcane is becoming an unprofitable agricultural venture unlike in the past due to what factories are undergoing.
Some factories have developed mechanical problems while others have little crushing capacity.
South Nyanza region relies on Sony, Sukari and Transmara factories to process their sugarcane.
Currently, about a third of land in Homa Bay and Migori counties is occupied by sugarcane crop.
Farmers like Olala have been reduced to begging the miller factories to collect their cane after harvest.
Kenya National Federation of Sugarcane Farmers secretary general Ezra Okoth now wants a law introduced to govern sugarcane harvesting and processing.
He proposed the introduction of a clause in the Sugar Bill-2019 by Kanduyi MP Wafula Wamunyinyi, that will protect farmers from the effects of delayed harvesting.
“It should be mandatory that farmers get compensated for the loss they may incur once their crops reach harvesting period,” Okoth said.
The Sugar Bill, which is in its Third Reading in the National Assembly, if approved will also require sugar dealers to present proof of shortage of the commodity in the domestic market before importation.
Factories and importers will also be compelled to obtain pre-import approval from the State in new measures aimed at curbing flooding of the local market with cheap sugar.
“We want county leadership in cane growing areas to sign an agreement that will compel millers to pay farmers when there is delayed harvesting,” the official said.
According to Okoth, farmers spend an average of Sh68,000 to produce sugarcane per acre.
This includes the cost of land clearing, hurrowing, planting, weeding, harvesting and other farm practices.
The farmers also accused the millers of disregarding the agreements between them.
“The agreement that millers should collect harvested cane within their zone areas is always disobeyed. We want CS Agriculture Peter Munya to intervene,” Okoth said.
Sukari Industries general manager David Okoth however said they prioritise harvesting cane from famers who are registered with them.
“We give farmers who are registered with us the priority during harvesting. I encourage farmers to ensure they are enlisted so that their cane gets harvested when they mature,” the manager said.
On Wednesday, Homa Bay Agriculture executive Aguko Juma promised to meet the management of Sukari Industries to address the problems facing farmers.
“The factory management has agreed to meet with us and farmers’ representatives to ensure we get a solution,” Juma said.
-Edited by SKanyara
