Ruto: Kenya to become net sugar exporter within three years
Kenya aims to become a net sugar exporter within three years as government reforms revive stalled mills, improve farmer payments and cut fertiliser costs. President William Ruto said digital farmer registration and broker removal are strengthening productivity and industry earnings.
President William Ruto has set a three-year target for Kenya to become a net exporter of sugar, saying reforms in the industry are beginning to restore production and improve earnings for farmers.
Ruto said the government had revived stalled sugar mills and restructured the industry as part of a wider agricultural transformation aimed at making farming more profitable.
Speaking in Muhoroni, Kisumu county on Monday, Ruto said farmers in the sugar belt were now being paid more regularly, while workers in sugar mills were receiving their dues.
“As I speak here in this sugar belt, sugar is beginning to pay once more,” Ruto said.
He said the reforms undertaken in the sugar industry would enable Kenya to move from dependence on imported sugar to producing enough for the local market and eventually exporting the surplus.
“With the reforms within the industry that have been undertaken, Kenya is going to be a net exporter of sugar in the next three years,” he said.
Ruto said his administration had also introduced a digital platform to register farmers, reduced the cost of fertiliser from Sh7,000 to Sh2,000 and removed brokers from the sugar value chain.
He said the changes were intended to ensure farmers benefit directly from their produce while improving productivity across the agricultural sector.
“Today sugarcane farming is paying farmers again. Today farmers are paid monthly, unlike in the past when they used to wait for more than six months,” he said.
He assured farmers in Chemelil that the government would ensure they were paid monthly, saying the Treasury had made provision to settle outstanding debts owed to farmers and workers.
“I want to assure the people of Chemelil that we want farmers to be paid every month. We don’t want the games of farmers waiting for six months,” he said.
Ruto said workers who were owed money would also be paid, including their terminal benefits.
The President said the changes in the sugar industry formed part of a broader agricultural transformation that had also improved earnings for tea and coffee farmers.
“We have not only transformed agriculture and sugarcane farming. Tea farming is paying more, coffee is paying more,” he said.
He challenged critics of his administration to assess the impact of the reforms on the ground instead of relying on social media criticism.
“Those making noise for us on Twitter and Facebook should come to the ground and see what is happening. These are the farmers and workers,” Ruto said.
Ruto also linked the agricultural reforms to what he described as a broader recovery of the Kenyan economy.
He said his administration had reduced inflation, stabilised the exchange rate and increased foreign exchange reserves to twice their 2022 level.
“Kenya is the sixth-largest economy in Africa,” he said, adding that Kenyans would ultimately judge his administration by the changes taking place in their lives.
“You can lie to some people sometimes, but you cannot lie to all the people all the time,” Ruto said.
The President also cited infrastructure investments as part of the government’s wider development programme, saying Sh180 billion had been set aside to pay contractors whose projects had stalled.
He said the funds would help unlock road projects across the country, including projects in Kisumu and the surrounding region.
Ruto said about 270 kilometres of roads in the area were being constructed at a cost of Sh23 billion, while new projects, including the Ching-Kibos road, had also been initiated.
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Source : The Star
