The onslaught on the sugar industry has come from internal weaknesses and shortcomings due to mismanagement and the flooding of the market with cheap imports. The use of obsolete machinery also hampers efficiency.
Incidentally, the struggling sub-sector, which is a source of livelihood for over a million people, has been in crisis since the 1990s. This is so yet the sugar industry plays a vital role in the economy, with over 400,000 small-scale farmers in the western region alone.
The industry creates jobs and helps in developing rural infrastructure. However, the cost of production is much higher than in the other Comesa region nations. Local milling firms are riddled with heavy debts and waivers and bailouts have not worked.
It is, therefore, good to hear some good news for the sugar-sub sector, with Members of Parliament having just struck a deal on reforms. They have resolved an impasse over a law aimed at improving regulation and paving the way for reforms.
The MPs have agreed on amendments to the Sugar Bill, 2022, and it now awaits President William Ruto’s assent. The Kenya Sugar Board, which was established in 2002, under the Sugar Act 2002, will now be finally established to regulate the industry as a successor to the Kenya Sugar Authority.
It will be tasked with regulating, developing and promoting the industry as well as overseeing the value chain and ensuring fair access to the sugar industry’s benefits for stakeholders.
Farmers and millers have all along been calling for stricter controls on imports to protect them from unfair competition
Efforts should be made to increase efficiency in cane growing, milling and marketing by lowering the cost of production.
