Sugar factories in western Kenya were yesterday ordered to shut their mills for three months amid concerns over harvesting of immature crop.
The directive by the Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) targets seven companies, including Mumias, Butali, and West Kenya in Kakamega. The temporary closure from July 14, 2025, will also affect Nzoia and Naitiri in Bungoma, as well as the Busia Sugar Industry and Olepito in Busia.
“During the most recent meeting held at the Sarova Imperial Hotel in Kisumu on Friday, July 4, 2025, it was established that both the lower and upper western sugarcane catchment areas had a severe shortage of mature cane,” said KSB acting CEO, Jude Chesire in a notice to sugar millers' management.
“It was therefore resolved that milling operations in the western region be temporarily stopped to allow cane to mature,” he added.
The regulator noted that the region is currently facing an acute shortage of mature crop due to inadequate sugarcane development to match milling capacity. “This has led to the harvesting and subsequent milling of immature cane. Consequently, sugarcane farmers are incurring losses due to lower cane yields associated with immature cane harvesting,” Chesire said.
Cane maturity typically takes between 16 to 18 months for the optimum development of sucrose. Sucrose or the sweet juice in cane is what is used to produce sugar crystals.
However, over the past months, factories have increasingly processed 10-month-old cane, far below the recommended maturity period necessary for optimal sucrose levels.
The harvesting of immature cane has been blamed on poaching, as mills scramble to meet crushing quotas, resorting to harvesting from neighbouring farms.
The ban comes not long after the country experienced a rare surplus, with monthly sugar production in September 2024 soaring to about 83,500 tonnes—well above the nation’s roughly 80,000 tonne consumption threshold.
In July and November 2023, the Agriculture and Food Authority directed several mills—including Chemelil, Muhoroni, Miwani, Mumias, Nzoia, and West Kenya—to halt production. The aim was to curb the processing of immature cane and allow fields time to mature.
The four-month ban targeted factories lacking sufficient mature cane and suffering from cane poaching, where mills harvested from growers with younger crops, sometimes only 10–13 months old instead of the ideal 16–18 months.
During the suspension, imports were ramped up under duty-free provisions to fill the shortfall, which helped stabilize domestic prices.
However, cane deliveries doubled from roughly 296,170 tonnes in November to 610,020 tonnes in December, signaling a robust recovery once the ban was lifted on December 1, 2023.
Typically, sugarcane in this region is expected to mature after 16 to 18 months of growth. However, due to poor agronomic practices and erratic weather, many fields are harvested prematurely at just ten months—well below acceptable standards.
While local output is expected to slump during this three-month pause, import dependency may increase—though likely temporarily.
During past closures, Kenya supplemented supply with imports, though these contracts encountered delays, contributing to price volatility.
