New firm to boost sugar production

By Sam Otieno

Kenya’s sugar deficit is expected to come down drastically when a sugar factory to produce 3,500 tonnes of sugar a day is fully operational in Coast Province.

This will be the second sugar factory in the province, with Mumias Sugar Company also planning to build a plant in Tana River Delta.

Kwale International Sugar Company (Kiscol) has put 10 hectares of sugarcane under drip irrigation, and registered 800 outgrowers, as it gets ready to start production in 2012. Another 70 hectares will next month be put under drip irrigation.

"Kiscol have a primary nursery, offices and conference facilities fully functioning," said General Manager Jonathan Parkin.

Parkin said when fully operational, the economic lifestyle of people living next to the factory and the larger Kwale district is expected to change dramatically, with 5,000 people employed directly and indirectly by the firm.

The sugar firm that was formed in 2006 employs 650 people at the factory that is under construction.

The company is located where the defunct Ramisi Sugar Company used to operate, before its closure in the late 1970s. "When Kiscol is fully operational in 2012, it will have capacity to crush 3,500 tonnes of sugarcane, produce 17 megawatts of electricity and 30,000 litres of ethanol per day," said Parkin.

The factory will also play a crucial role in meeting the country’s annual deficit of 200,000 metric tonnes of sugar.

Local sugar factories comprising Mumias, Chemelil, Sony, Nzoia, Muhoroni and West Kenya firms produce about 400,000 tonnes against a consumption of more than 600,000 tonnes, leaving a shortfall of about 200,000 tonnes.

The deficit is imported from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa).