Three state-owned sugar millers in the Nyando sugar belt, Kisumu county, have halted operations following the recent directive by the Agriculture and Food Authority.
County agriculture executive Kenneth Onyango said Chemelil, Muhoroni and Miwani have shut down their operations for three months.
The authority had directed millers in Western Kenya to temporarily suspend operations in a bid to streamline the sector.
The directive follows cane shortage occasioned by unethical cane harvesting across the sugar belt. Onyango said the directive will help address the challenges ailing the sugar sector.
AFA’s decision to stop cane milling for three months between July 14 and November 30 is appropriate since it seeks to address the challenge of the sugarcane shortage before the factories are reopened, he said.
Onyango criticised some factories for cane poaching, which he said has led to harvesting of immature cane in the region.
He said some private millers in Western Kenya have been harvesting 10-month-old cane instead of 16 or 18 months.
The executive said some of the private millers have insufficient cane forcing them to engage in cane poaching.
He questioned why the government allows licensing of such millers without adequate cane.
Onyango said harvesting of immature cane reduces farmers income because cane deliveries are paid based on their weight.
Besides Chemelil and Muhoroni in Kisumu, Mumias, Nzoia and West Kenya in Western region have also closed down the operations.
However, sugarcane farmers in the region have opposed the temporary closure of the factories and appealed to the authority to lift the suspension, citing the hard economic times.
Onyango urged farmers to be patient to enable sugar cane to mature to help sustain the demands of the millers.
He urged factories to obey the AFA directive because continued milling will result in cane poaching and the harvesting of immature cane.
“We are warning sugarcane growers to stop selling their immature cane because their crop will not attract the expected weight and only incur huge losses,” Onyango said.
AFA acting director Jude Chesire, while issuing the directive in July, accused the millers of engaging in massive cane poaching and harvesting of immature crops.
He said the closure did not affect mills in Southern Nyanza since they still had some mature cane in the region to sustain the factories demand.
Transmara, Sony Sugar and Ndhiwa are operational.
