- Sugar stakeholders reject proposed changes to sector financing.
- Industry players warn KADCO could weaken accountability.
- MPs defend the plan as a solution to agriculture’s funding gaps.
Sugar farmers and industry players have rejected proposed changes to how their sector is financed under the Crops Laws Amendment Bill, 2026. They told a National Assembly committee the shakeup could weaken existing institutions rather than strengthen them.
The Bill, sponsored by Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, proposes changes to the functions of sector-specific agricultural institutions. It seeks to channel relevant funds to the Kenya Agribusiness Development Corporation Limited (KADCO).
Specifically, the Bill would amend the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Act (Cap. 319), the Tea Act (Cap. 343) and the Sugar Act (No. 11 of 2024). Together, these amendments would strip lending functions from sector-specific agricultural bodies and hand them to KADCO.
That lending role has historically sat with the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) and the Commodities Fund.
Stakeholders raise doubts
Even so, stakeholders who appeared before the National Assembly Committee on Agriculture and Livestock questioned whether the changes would genuinely benefit the sugar industry. Many doubted the reforms would add value to institutions already serving farmers.
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Nick Oloo of the Kenya Sugar Manufacturers Association warned that shifting funds from the Sugar Development Levy to KADCO could weaken accountability within the sector. Moreover, he argued it would upend arrangements only recently established under the Sugar Act, 2024.
Oloo added that earlier legislative changes have already left a mark on the industry. He pointed to ongoing struggles with financing, cane development, factory rehabilitation and farmer support since the Crops Act, 2013 took effect.
Committee defends the proposal
Committee chairperson Dr John Mutunga defended the plan, saying the proposed KADCO would tackle longstanding financing gaps in agriculture. The new corporation would merge the AFC and the Commodities Fund under one institution anchored at the National Treasury.
Mutunga explained that the committee’s goal is to protect a sector it recognises as underfunded, not to strip resources from it. He described the merger of the two agencies as a way to pool their strengths rather than weaken either one.
Meanwhile, Atiang Atyang, chairman of the Kenya Association of Sugarcane and Allied Products, urged the committee to safeguard the gains already made under the Sugar Act, 2024.
By Benedict Aoya
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