bitter-sweet taste of Kenya sugar, The

SUGAR

Mzee Ayub Shikwekwe believes he could be a rich sugar farmer, if only he had faster-growing cane that was not susceptible to disease. He owns fertile land on the slopes of the River Nzoia in western Kenya, but instead of harvesting regularly he must wait two years for his cane to grow.

He is one of thousands of farmers in western Kenya's sugar belt who are forced to grow a variety of cane that was introduced in the 1950s when the country was still under colonial rule. The variety is slow to mature and prone to disease. The Kenyan government has failed to Invest in technological research to improve its quality.

"But this cane is all we have and can afford," he says walking past a wooden gate that leads to the partly fenced farm. "My main problem is where to sell it".

Shikwekwe's problems are also those of Kenya as it faces changes in regional and international sugar markets. Kenya has an annual shortfall of 200,000 tons of sugar which is filled by imports from the region. Malawian and Tanzanian sugar farmers can grow cane in eight months - half the time it takes to produce one crop in Kenya. But Kenya is blocking regional imports until 2008 to give its sugar farmers an opportunity to introduce better-performing cane and build their capacity to compete.

Kenya has been allowed to do so by its fellow members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) following a decision In 2003. But time is running out.

Researchers are optimistic that Kenyan farmers can recover if the government cuts taxes on fertilisers, chemicals and farm machinery and cushions farmers from outside competition. But they warn that waiting for the cane to mature for two years cripples the local sugar industry. They claim that technological research and the introduction of new varieties by the Kenya Sugar Research Foundation (KESRF) could provide a solution.

David Oloo, a KESRF researcher, says: "Farmers need the best cane variety for their region. But we must be cautious in adopting patented foreign varieties because farmers would be forced to share profits with the countries that developed them."

Finding a patent might be just a technical fix for other bigger, pressing problems. The sugar deficit has led to unscrupulous national cartels, with the collusion of corrupt border officials, flooding the Kenyan market with cheap smuggled sugar. This has pushed the country's sugar sector to the brink of collapse.

Without Kenyan government intervention - through better market regulation and effective border controls - Shikwekwe and 250,000 Kenyans in the western part of the country could lose their jobs. ActionAid Kenya says six million people depend on the industry for their livelihoods.

President Mwai Kibaki's government has drawn up a 'Marshall Plan' to develop the sugar industry by seeking new markets, developing innovative uses for sugarcane and its by-products, researching better cane varieties, opening new factories, and developing infrastructure in canegrowing areas.

John Kamau

Copyright International Communications Jan 2006
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