This archive report was first published on 7 July 2020.
On July 7, 2020, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya announced a ban on sugar importation, a move that has been welcomed by sugarcane farmers in Kwale County.
The chairman of the Kwale cane outgrowers association, David Ndirangu, expressed support for the decision, stating that it would help cushion local sugar cane farmers and millers.
According to Ndirangu, the influx of cheap sugar into the local market has rendered local milling firms uncompetitive, and the ban on sugar importation would help to boost local production.
Kenya is allowed to import 350,000 tonnes of sugar from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa to fill the national deficit. However, imports between January and May 2020 stood at 207,814 tonnes, a significant increase from the 172,213 tonnes imported during the same period in 2019.
CS Munya noted that the uncoordinated importation of brown sugar had rendered Kenya's mills uncompetitive, and the country may soon be faced with a sugar glut as a result of increased importation, which would eventually lead to the collapse of the industry.
