- Millers face penalties for delayed farmer payments.
- Weighbridge fraud crackdown targets cane losses.
- Sugar production rises as Kenya battles imports.
Sugarcane farmers will be protected from miller exploitation as the government cracks the whip on delayed payments and weighbridge tonnage fraud.
The Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) has ordered that sugar millers must pay farmers within seven days of cane delivery or face penalties, including interest on delayed payments.
The move is part of a tougher enforcement regime launched by the government to protect cane growers from exploitation and put more money into their pockets.
In a statement, KSB said: “The days when farmers used to wait indefinitely for payment after delivering cane must come to an end, with contracts now providing clear sanctions against millers who violate the standard seven-day payment period.”
KSB Chief Executive Officer Jude Chesire said the board was also working to address the widely reported problem of weighbridge theft by millers.
“As regulators, we are seriously and simultaneously moving against weighbridge malpractices that have seen some farmers lose up to three tons of cane per trailer, effectively denying growers their hard-earned payment for cane they have produced, harvested and transported,” he said.
Chesire added that the regulator, as part of efforts to streamline the sector for growers’ benefit, was scouting for mobile weighbridges to independently verify cane tonnage.
“KSB is procuring mobile weighbridges to independently verify cane weights and strengthen enforcement. We also commend the government for investing in cane-testing units as the sugar industry moves towards a payment system that considers quality and sugar content rather than relying only on weight,” he said.
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At the same time, KSB has directed millers to establish clear and transparent cane harvesting frameworks by September 10, 2026, as the government seeks to streamline harvesting, transportation and delivery to end delays that leave mature cane deteriorating on farms at growers’ expense.
These farmer-protection measures come as Kenya’s sugar industry records a significant production recovery. Domestic sugar production hit 815,454 metric tons (MT) in 2024, the highest level in recent years. Kenya produced 611,576 MT in 2025, with production between January and July 2026 standing at 528,875 MT.
In recent months, the recovery has accelerated sharply, with production reaching 89,709 MT in June and a record 91,022 MT in July 2026.
Despite the improvement, Kenya remains a sugar-deficit country. Annual demand stands at approximately 1.2 million MT, comprising about 1 million MT of brown/table sugar and 200,000 MT of white refined sugar for industrial use, with national consumption reaching approximately 1.216 million MT in 2025.
The deficit continues to be bridged through imports, mainly from the COMESA and EAC regions. Kenya imported 477,551 MT of sugar in 2025, while a further 65,081 MT of brown sugar was imported between January and July 2026.
With the country spending Ksh 30 billion annually on imported white refined sugar, the government is working out how it can retain that cash locally by boosting the economy through expanded sugarcane production and local refining capacity.
As an immediate intervention to cut imports, Kenya has started refining imported raw sugar locally instead of relying entirely on finished refined sugar. At Mombasa Sugar Refinery Limited, which has an installed refining capacity of about 150,000 MT annually, 27,839 MT of raw sugar has been imported and local refining has commenced.
According to KSB, strict safeguards have been established to prevent raw sugar from leaking into the table-sugar market before being refined, with the long-term target remaining the growing of more sugar cane within the country.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, through KSB, is also pushing for increased cane acreage and productivity, better milling efficiency, value addition and expanded domestic refining capacity to progressively reduce the country’s dependence on imports.
By Wakhungu Andanje
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