The outgoing Director General for the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) Willis Audi urged farmers to transit from old sugarcane varieties to fast-maturing ones to enhance self-sufficiency in sugar production.
Speaking in Kisumu during the last day of a sugar symposium, Audi noted that the government is currently importing sugar to bridge the deficit, hence occasioning the high cost of sugar in the country.
“Let’s not stick to cane varieties that take 22 months to mature when we have varieties that only take 9 to 11 months to be harvested,” he said.
On his part, National Assembly Committee on Agriculture and Livestock Chairman Dr. John Mutunga said that farmers will now be paid for the sucrose content of their sugar cane pending the approval of the Sugar Bill 2023 by the Parliament.
“We already we have machines to help in weighing the sucrose content in various sugar milling zones but they are currently not in use,” he said.
The Chairman said that the Bill will also bring back the Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) which will allow farmers in clusters to elect board directors to represent their interests.
Mutunga added that the Bill will also introduce clusters with an emphasis on cane supply contracts with farmers to stop cane poaching by millers.
Other dignitaries in attendance were Muhoroni MP James Onyango Koyoo and his Sirisia counterpart John Waluke.
By Fredrick Odiero
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