One year not enough to fix sugar industry

This may sound harsh, but despite getting a one year extension from Comesa on sugar exports to the country, Kenya did not deserve it and here is why. The 2004-2009 strategic plan for the industry envisioned laying the foundations for a turnaround for the industry to make it competitive.

Instead the Government has allowed the fragmentation of the industry by licensing more millers and creating a battle for the raw material used in making sugar. Five years later, Kenya’s sugar sector is still reeling under the myriad ills that made it unable to compete against imports from Comesa.

According to the 2010-2014 strategic plan for the sector, these include high cost of inputs, weak research extension- farmer linkages, low adoption of high yielding cane varieties, excessive land subdivision, delayed payments to farmers and limited irrigation.

It lists others as drought, cane fires, diseases, long maturity periods, inadequate funding via the sugarcane development levy, lack of collateral, food insecurity, delayed and unco-ordinated harvesting, dilapidated infrastructure and high post harvest losses (cane spillage, poaching, inappropriate trailer designs and poor cane yard management).

Other than Mumias Sugar Company, the other millers still suffer from irregular routine factory maintenance, low crushing capacity, low sugar extraction rates, slow adoption of new and appropriate technology, lack of industrial research and high cost of sugar production.

The report says they are heavily in debt, and have failed to diversify their product base. Equipment is also dilapidated and factory operations inefficient, leading to a lot of wastage. The sector is also overtaxed by the Government. Combined with the woes that make production of sugar in Kenya so costly, it is no surprise that farmers are suffering.