Solve sugar industry woes

Long-suffering western Kenya sugarcane farmers have some good news: Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri says the National Treasury has released Sh2.7 billion to pay for their dues that have piled up due to the near-collapse of several State-owned millers.

It has taken ages to honour President Kenyatta’s pledge to have the farmers paid for cane delivered to these moribund firms. For some of them, it has taken several years. However, the CS’s appeal to the stakeholders to seek a lasting solution to the perennial problems in the industry is spot on.

Already, a government task force is collecting the views of farmers and other stakeholders on how to revive the industry. However, it has made little progress, with some of its public meetings having aborted over fears of violence. The emergence of a parallel private initiative has, naturally, stirred some controversy.

A key issue is the planned privatisation of state-owned millers. Unless there is a heavy injection of funds and replacement of obsolete equipment, that lasting solution will remain elusive. The challenge is how to make sugarcane farming more profitable.

Compared to other sugarcane producers in the region, our cost of production is prohibitive. Indeed, without Comesa sugar import safeguards, Kenya’s sugar industry would struggle to cope. But there are other problems, including rampant mismanagement and corruption that have brought the industry to its knees.

Once paid, the farmers can freely engage in discussions on the way forward for the industry. Attracting private investment is one of the possible solutions. The other is research to introduce fast-maturing varieties that are also resistant to pests and diseases. But most important, government bailouts and subsidies are not sustainable. Cane growing must make business sense.