Farmers seek share of cane by-products cash

Farmers have appealed to the government to consider increasing sugar cane prices for millers who generate more income from by-products of the sweetener.

While lauding the Ministry of Agriculture for effecting an eight percent increase from April 1, they reiterated that growers should be paid more by sugar companies which make more from their raw materials.

According to Kenya Sugarcane Growers Association (Kesga) Secretary-General Richard Ogendo, farmers should be paid a minimum of Sh5,500 per tonnage of sugar cane to enable them adequately cater for the rising cost of cane development.

“It is unfair to have all companies pay the same amount while we know that there are some that derive a lot of money purely based from the effort and sweat of farmers,” he said.

Just like the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) which collects more taxes from the millers, Mr Ogendo said that cane farmers should be paid a slice of the income from the by-product.

“We know that there are some millers who are operating under very difficult conditions and rely only on sugar as their main source of income. We however call on the government to ensure those who produce by-products like ethanol, molasses, electricity and paper, among others, reward farmers for supplying them with the primary raw material,” he said.

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya on Tuesday announced that millers will from April 1 be require to pay Sh4,040 per tonne of sugarcane from the current Sh3,700 that has been prevailing since 2018.

The proposal by the Sugarcane Pricing Committee indicated that millers who will fail to adhere to the new price will face a Sh500,000 fine or one-year imprisonment.

“Having considered that the prevailing sugar ex-factory prices over the past three months was Sh4,659, the committee approved an increase in the price of cane from the current Sh3,700 per tonne to Sh4,040 effective April 1, 2021 in line with the industry cane pricing formula,” said Mr Munya in Nairobi at a press conference.

But Mr Ogendo pointed out that the adjustment based on a single production of sugar is not enough for farmers to take care of the labour and capital intensive crop.

Mr Munya further indicated that the government will be shifting from payment of canes based on weight system to relying on sucrose content by June this year.