Sugar cane deliveries rise 20pc as millers pay more

Sugar cane deliveries from farmers to millers grew by 20 percent in the six months to June compared to the corresponding period last year, boosted by good rains and increased demand from factories that have resumed operations in western Kenya.

Data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that farmers delivered 3.95 million tonnes in the period, up from 3.28 million tonnes last year.

The deliveries are the biggest in the first half of the year since 2017 and offer hope of a turnaround in fortunes for long-suffering farmers in cane growing regions.

Cane growers have in recent years endured low earnings and delayed payments amid the struggles bedeviling the State-owned millers.

Factories including Nzoia Sugar and Chemelil Sugar that had closed down have since resumed operations, leading to an increase in demand for cane.

“There was a big increase and it was mainly due to two reasons. This year, the rains have been good for the crop and factories that had closed down are working and this increased demand,” Francis Ooko, the receiver-manager at Muhoroni Sugar told the Business Daily.

The increase in cane delivery coincided with a rise in farmers’ earnings as millers paid up to Sh4,034 per tonne in the period from Sh3,800 paid for a similar quantity last year.

Mr Ooko added that higher retail prices of sugar saw millers increase payments to farmers in the sugar belt.

The rise in local sugar production looks set to cut Kenya’s need to import the sweetener to plug the supply deficit.