Sugar Millers Face Seven-Day Deadline to Pay Farmers as Kenya Tightens Industry Oversight

Sugar millers in Kenya have been given seven days to pay farmers after receiving sugarcane, with companies that delay payments facing interest penalties under tougher measures announced to protect growers.

The Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) said the payment requirement is now being enforced through contracts that provide sanctions against millers who fail to settle farmers within the stipulated period.

KSB Chief Executive Officer Jude Chesire said farmers should no longer wait indefinitely for payment after delivering their cane. The move is intended to improve cash flow for growers and ensure more value from sugarcane production reaches farming households.

The regulator is also targeting malpractices at weighbridges, where farmers have allegedly lost significant amounts of cane through inaccurate or manipulated weight records.

Chesire said some farmers have been losing as much as three tonnes of cane per trailer, effectively denying them payment for produce they had grown, harvested and transported to millers.

To address the problem, KSB is procuring mobile weighbridges that will allow independent verification of cane weights. The move is expected to strengthen oversight and reduce disputes between farmers and millers over the quantity delivered.

The government is also investing in cane-testing units as the sugar industry moves towards a payment system that takes account of cane quality and sugar content rather than relying solely on weight.

Millers have additionally been directed to establish clear sugarcane harvesting frameworks by September 10. The frameworks are expected to improve coordination between harvesting, transportation and delivery and reduce delays that can leave mature cane deteriorating in farmers’ fields.

The enforcement measures come as Kenya’s sugar industry records a significant recovery in domestic production.

Kenya produced 815,454 metric tonnes of sugar in 2024, its highest output in recent years. Production fell to 611,576 metric tonnes in 2025 but has continued to recover during 2026.

Between January and July this year, the country produced 528,875 metric tonnes. Monthly production reached 89,709 metric tonnes in June and rose to a record 91,022 metric tonnes in July.

Despite the improvement, domestic production remains below national consumption. Kenya’s annual sugar requirement is estimated at about 1.2 million metric tonnes, comprising approximately one million tonnes of brown or table sugar and 200,000 tonnes of white refined sugar used mainly by industries.

National sugar consumption stood at about 1.216 million metric tonnes in 2025, leaving the country dependent on imports to bridge the supply gap.

Kenya imported 477,551 metric tonnes of sugar in 2025. Between January and July 2026, another 65,081 metric tonnes of brown sugar was imported, mainly from markets within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and East African Community (EAC) regions.

White refined sugar remains a particular concern because of its import cost. KSB estimates that Kenya spends about KSh30 billion each year importing refined white sugar.

The government is now seeking to retain more of that expenditure within the domestic economy by increasing local refining capacity.

Mombasa Sugar Refinery Limited, which has an installed refining capacity of about 150,000 metric tonnes annually, has imported 27,839 metric tonnes of raw sugar and started refining it locally.

KSB said safeguards have been put in place to prevent the imported raw sugar from entering the table-sugar market before processing.

However, officials say increased refining alone will not eliminate Kenya’s sugar deficit. The longer-term strategy is to expand sugarcane acreage, improve farm productivity and milling efficiency, increase value addition and develop more domestic refining capacity.

For farmers, the immediate focus will be on timely payments, accurate weighing and better harvesting coordination. KSB says stronger enforcement across these areas is intended to improve farmer confidence while supporting the recovery of Kenya’s sugar industry.