KISUMU, Kenya, Aug 28 – The government is urging farmers to ramp up sugarcane production to address a growing shortage that threatens the operation of sugar mills across the country.
Cabinet Secretary for Investment and Industry, Lee Kinyanjui, has warned that several mills could shut down in the coming months if the supply of raw cane is not stabilized.
Speaking during a tour of Kibos Sugar and Allied Companies in Kisumu on Thursday, Kinyanjui emphasized the urgency of the situation.
“We currently have a serious shortage of cane needed to sustain our sugar factories,” he said, adding that there are vast tracts of idle land across the country that could be used to grow sugarcane.
The CS challenged both farmers and county governments to take action and return to active sugarcane farming, particularly now that the government has restarted milling operations in various factories.
Kibos Sugar is in the process of launching its industrial-grade sugar line, targeting both the local and regional markets.
The company, which is licensed to process 30,000 tons annually, has invested in infrastructure capable of handling up to 150,000 tons of industrial sugar per year.
However, the shortage of raw sugar is now affecting industrial production as well.
“Due to the cane shortage, we lack enough raw sugar for processing industrial sugar used in pharmaceuticals, food, and alcohol industries,” Kinyanjui noted.
He revealed that the government is considering allowing the importation of raw sugar to bridge the gap.
During his visit to the company’s paper division, the CS also addressed concerns from exporters regarding the quality of locally produced packaging paper.
He announced plans to convene a meeting next week with exporters and manufacturers to assess the capacity and quality of packaging materials available in Kenya.
“There are complaints that packaging paper needs to be imported due to quality concerns. However, we must ensure that our local manufacturers are protected, and their industries are not pushed out of business,” he said.
The CS assured local producers that the government is committed to supporting them and will only consider imports when necessary.
Kinyanjui also raised concern over the growing threat of real estate developments encroaching on traditional agricultural lands used for crops like coffee, tea, and sugarcane.
He was responding to an issue raised by Miwani farmers who opposed a proposal by the Safaricom Investment Cooperative Society to convert agricultural land into real estate.
“To protect our agricultural productivity, we need to move toward vertical development through the government’s affordable housing program, instead of horizontal expansion that eats into farmland,” he said.
