The Cabinet Secretary for Investment, Trade and Industry, (CS) Lee Kinyanjui, has urged local sugarcane farmers to upscale growing to reduce imports, and to purposely sustain the local industries without frequent closures.
This arises from a shortage of about 400,000 metric tonnes that the country is currently experiencing, thus exacerbating a lack of raw sugar to process into industrial sugar.
Consequently, this has led to the importation of industrial sugar for use in food, pharmaceuticals, alcohol-making industries, and other sectors.
“To avoid imports, we are working closely with the sugar millers to produce enough industrial sugar for local and foreign consumption. This will also increase gainful employment opportunities,” he said during the ministry’s fact-finding mission to Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries Limited, located in Kisumu East Sub-County, on Thursday.
The fully operational Kibos Sugar, which is Kenya’s and East Africa’s only industrial sugar plant, will employ an additional 200 young people.
CS Kinyanjui is also encouraging stakeholders to invest heavily in vast lands in the sugarbelt regions such as Trans Mara, Kisii, Homabay, Kisumu, and other neighbouring regions.
To attain self-sufficiency, CS Kinyanjui further urged sugar companies to carry out continuous sensitisation and outreach programs for the next three years with farmers in the region.
This, he pointed out, further needs concerted efforts from the county government, and the local residents.
Cash Crops
He also decried the rise of unplanned commercial and residential constructions across the country.
“Our traditional cash crops farming like coffee, tea, sugarcane to be under serious threats from real estate development in Nairobi, Kisumu, Nakuru and all over,”
Notably, CS Kinyanjui said that the government has introduced Affordable Housing (vertical development) to reduce horizontal expansion to safeguard our agricultural production countrywide.
“I urge the county authorities to be keen on any changes from agricultural to commercial or residential with a bigger focus on the impact on the broader economy,” he stressed.
Paper Quality
In the paper industry, a section of importers has raised concerns about the high tariff charges, while local producers insist they have capacity and quality.
CS Kinyanjui explained that previous attempts by the government to lower the duty have still not borne a positive effect on the local producers of cartons and packaging materials.
On this breadth, he announced that the stakeholders meeting will be held on Monday to assess both the capacity and quality of all types of paper necessary for the country to export.
He was flanked by Principal Secretaries (PSs) Dr. Juma Mukhwana (Industry) and Regina Ombam (Trade), Kibos Sugar Limited officials led by Chatte Group Chairman Raju Patel.
“Our first calling is to protect local manufacturers at all costs and to reduce our country from a haven of importation. We are importing things that we can even produce locally so that we can create jobs for Kenyans and safeguard our forex outlook,” he concluded.
