State should help cane farmers own sugar millers

A majority of cane farmers in Western Kenya still recall with nostalgia the once powerful Mumias Outgrowers Company (MOCO) that used to ably represent their interests.

Formed in 1998, MOCO ensured sugarcane producers got farm inputs on time and were paid for their produce. The sugar millers could not dictate their terms on farmers because MOCO was in control. However, towards the beginning of the 2000s, MOCO was systematically weakened and farmers began suffering.