• Kenya Sugarcane Growers Association (Kesga) Secretary General Richard Ogendo said the move is a sign of good will by the Kenya Kwanza government to stabilise the sugar subsector.
• West Kenya Sugar Company welcomed the move to halt imports and encourage local production.
Image: HILTON OTENYO
Sugarcane farmers and millers have welcomed the government's ban on sugar importation.
Kenya Sugarcane Growers Association Secretary General Richard Ogendo said the move will stabilise the sugar subsector.
The announcement by the Border Control and Operations Coordination Committee follows President William Ruto’s extensive tour of Nyanza last week.
Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo chairs the committee.
Ogendo said sugarcane farming is a profitable venture capable of boosting the lake region's economy if imports are managed.
“We are grateful to Omollo for implementing the President's directives on sugar imports. We however must not lower our guard since import licenses issued to the unscrupulous traders have not been cancelled,” Ogendo said.
Ogendo said consistent dumping of imported sugar in the local markets by cartels has condemned hardworking and tax-paying farmers to abject poverty.
He asked Parliament to pass the Sugar Bill 2022 to transform the sugar sector.
He added that parliament is the weak link in the sugar reforms agenda.
West Kenya Sugar Company welcomed the move to halt imports and encourage local production.
“We at West Kenya support government intervention, including subsidised fertiliser,” said George Muruli, Rai Group Head of External Affairs and Communications.
He said enhanced cane development would avail enough raw materials to sustain the local demand.
“Although we are in milling, we prioritise farmers as the primary player in the whole chain,” he said.
He said sugar imports have negatively affected the price and sale of locally manufactured sugar.
PS Omollo directed border management committee chairpersons in 27 regions to enforce Ruto's directive.
“In light of the ongoing reforms within the sugar industry, it is evident that domestic sugar production is currently sufficient to meet national demand. Continued revival of all sugar mills is expected to enhance industry growth and bolster the economies of sugarcane-farming communities,” Omollo said.
Omollo said local sugar production saw significant increases, averaging 75,500 metric tonnes and 80,500 metric tonnes per month in June and July, exceeding local consumption by 4,000 metric tonnes.
“To sustain this positive trajectory, it is essential to protect the industry by halting sugar imports,” Omollo said.
There has been a steady decline in prices for raw sugarcane in the last two years.
Raw cane prices are determined by the shelf price of milled sugar, such that the price of cane drops when the price of milled sugar drops and vice versa.
The price per tonne was Sh6,100 when the President announced the reforms. The prices fell to Sh 5,200 and later to Sh 5,125 and now Sh 5,000.
Ruto announced on August 24 that sugarcane farmers would begin earning bonuses from their produce.
He said normalcy had been restored at Mumias Sugar Company, adding that operations at the struggling Nzoia Sugar Company will be streamlined in the next phase after court cases.
“We want to provide leadership that will pay sugarcane farmers on time, pay the right prices, pay the workers and be able to pay bonuses to farmers,” said the head of State while addressing Co-operatives and SMEs CS Wycliffe Oparanya’s thanksgiving at his Mabole rural home.
“It is time we change the way we do our business in the sugar industry so that we can benefit farmers instead of benefiting importers,” he said.