Sugar millers suffer due to cane poaching

Daniel Mmang'ale on his sugarcane farm in Handidi village, Shinyalu, Kakamega county. [File, Standard]

Sugar factories are staring at long closure due to cane shortage. This was deliberated during a meeting convened by Western region security committee led by Regional Commissioner Irungu Macharia bringing together cane farmers, sugarcane millers and the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) in Kakamega.

Dirty and unorthodox means used by various millers to poach and harvest immature cane at the expense of ensuring cane development, were revealed. It was revealed that harvesting of cane at night and transportation and cunning farmers under contract with different millers is contributing to sugar shortage.

Simon Oduk, a farmer in Busia, questioned why Mumias Sugar Company was allowed to resume milling before developing their own sugarcane to sustain their crushing capacity.

"In Busia, there is widespread poaching of sugarcane and the poacher is Mumias Sugar. Who is behind Mumias Sugar because no action is being taken against them," said Oduki.

He asked the government to ensure every investor in the sugar industry gets fair treatment. His sentiments were echoed by Monica Mungala also a cane farmer from Busia who wondered why Mumias Sugar was harvesting immature cane when the miller had over-mature sugarcane in their 20 hectares.

"Why is Mumias Sugar harvesting immature canes in Busia when in their nucleus they have canes they developed in 2022 which continue to overgrow?" Posed Mung'ala.

Merisha Achieng from Busia Sugar Company said a miller such as Mumias Sugar may be unable to mill over 2,500 tonnes per day without canes from out-growers.

"Busia Sugar is unable to crush to their capacity because that cane which we developed has been poached but Mumias Sugar is milling over 2,500 per day, where are they getting the cane?" He posed.

Mumias Sugar Factory Head of Operations Stephen Kihumba acknowledged cane poaching and immature cane harvesting, but defended the miller against cane poaching accusations.

"There is serious carpet harvesting of sugarcane at the moment where no canes are being left regardless of the age. Factories are likely to close for a longer period," said Kihumba.

"We have many cases of sugar poaching and as a miller we want to urge our brothers West Kenya Sugar company to stop poaching our cane, we are respecting the sugar clusters and so this should be applied to all millers," he added.

Stanley Siuna from Nzoia Sugar said the company has lost 40,000 tonnes to cane poaching and are unable to raise money to pay farmers due to the challenge.