This archive report was first published on 25 June 2020.
On June 22, 2020, sugarcane farmers in Malava were ferrying cane to Butali Sugar Mill, a scene that has become a rarity due to the influx of cheap and illegal sugar from neighboring countries.
The farmers have pointed out the country's porous border as the main source of the problem, with some Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) member countries abusing the Rules of Origin to import sugar from Brazil and then export it to Kenya.
According to Michael Arum of the Kenya National Alliance of Sugarcane Farmers Organisation (KNASFO), the dumping of sugar has reached a crisis level, leaving local farmers with no market for their produce.
"Despite the fact that Kenya has ratified a continental free trade area agreement that allows free movement of goods between African States, illegal import of sugar is now getting to crisis levels," Arum said.
He added that millers are now stranded with bags of sugar in their warehouses as cheap imports from countries like Brazil, Australia, and Indonesia find their way into the country disguised as sugar from Comesa States.
KNASFO chairman Saulo Busolo has called on the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya to introduce regulations that will protect Kenyan farmers from unscrupulous traders exploiting porous borders to import the commodity.
Busolo praised CS Munya for gazetting the Crops (Sugar) (General) Regulations 2020, but noted that the guideline failed to capture the issue of import.
"Import remains the elephant in the room and must now be nipped in the bud to make cane farming a viable undertaking," he said.
