Nandi cane farmers reject sugar zoning bill, want freedom to sell
Cane farmers and leaders from Nandi county have opposed zoning of sugar catchment areas as proposed in the Sugar Bill 2022.
Zoning rules compel growers to sell cane to a miller operating within their region rather than seek better prices elsewhere.
Nandi Woman Representative Cynthia Muge said farmers should be left to sell cane to millers of their choice who offer them better prices and pay promptly.
Speaking in her office at Kapsabet town after meeting with farmers and other stakeholders, Muge said farmers should not be restricted to specific millers.
“We want our farmers to be at liberty to sell their cane to the best miller with good pay and in good time in order to reap maximum benefits from their investment,” she said.
The Sugar Bill recommends setting up of five zones across the country where farmers will be compelled to sell their produce to millers within these areas.
The proposed zoning bill aims to merge Uasin Gishu, Nandi and Kericho counties into a single zone where farmers will be compelled to transport their sugarcane to West Valley Cane Factory in Kericho. The miller is over 130km away while there is a more accessible option, Kibos Sugar Factory which is 30km. Nandi and Uasin Gishu have no sugar milling factory.
Among other proposals, the Sugar Bill 2022 seeks to establish a sugar body to solely manage sugar affairs in the country as opposed to generalising the sugar subsector under Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA).
The bill proposes the establishment of a Sugar Arbitration Tribunal for the purpose of resolving disputes to be headed by a person qualified to be a High Court judge.
It also has the component of the establishment Kenya Sugar Research Training Institute to regulate research work in the sector and to curb sugarcane poaching.
Woman Rep Muge said the bill oppresses cane farmers in the region and called on the Senate committee on Agriculture to either pass the bill with amendments or reject it in totality.
“We want a free market and competition because it will improve the sector in terms of prices per tonne and farmers will benefit a lot,” she said.
The MP urged the committee to borrow from the report prepared by former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya on revival of the sugar sector.
Farmers said they wanted to be free to sell their cane to the miller that offers them good prices, adding that transporting sugarcane from Nandi to Kericho will be expensive.
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