BitterCane

A THREAD

Sugarcane is among the precious cash crops in Kenya and globally.
Western Kenya is the key area of cane production in Kenya in Mumias, Muhoroni, Chemelil, Miwani, Nyanza Province, Nzoia and Busia.
We have a deficit of sugar and most is imported.

I grew up in Mumias sugar plantations. My grandpa owned 28 acres of cane. Initially when Mumias started, sugarcane was paying well and money floated. We even had organised gangs from Central that moved there to terrorise farmers. The names Njoroge, Kamau are reminders of the days

Many farmers took to farming after being lured into the industry by good money. Illiterate farmers signed contracts restricting them to farm for Mumias only.
Large tracts of land turned into sugarcane farms. We had nothing to farm food crops.
Hunger struck in. No food.

We had many famines in western Kenya, a once food sufficient region.
Those who grew their can remember Gorogoro famine that brought the current 2kg tin used to measure n sell cereals todate.
Then came Saba(va) Lulala (wash hands once) famine and many others. It was terrible!

As a kid, I survived on cane. Ate for breakfast and lunch and had one meal per day, a piece of ugali with salt or at times mboga.
This is just the tip of the iceberg on how sugarcane farming affected food production in Western. Currently, things have changed. Food is available.

Mumias sugar ltd and many other sugar companies in Western collapsed. Most are linked to corruption and mismanagement. But there's more to it.
Government has tried revamping and pumping in money but nothing has changed.

WHY?

As a person affected directly, I know why it can't

Key Reason: Demoralized Farmers Failed the Supply Chain
Mumias sugar company took advantage of illiterate farmers and conned them. I remember my grandpa complaining about Dr. You farm the cane, but when delivery comes and you expect payment, you are given negative balance, DR!

All manner of costs are piled to these illiterate farmers and everything favoured the company. Farmers were overcharged for cane seedlings, ploughing, fertilizers, transportation and harvesting.
They also claimed that each stake of cane had over 1 ton of trash to be removed first

Prices per cane were too low. For one to gain anything, he had to wait for the second harvest as the first was used to recover all costs of production by the company.
That's after 4 years as most of the cane varieties took 22 to 24 months to harvest. You wait 2years BUT get DR!

Then came the farmer's would have been the savings sacco, the Mumias Outgrowers. These were cartels that took 10% of the cane money to 'KEEP' for farmers.
Farmers made countless trips to get the 10% savings.
Outgrowers, was simply a channel to steal and play games in collusion

Frustrations set in. Farmers were demoralised.
Then came the late payments. Given the high level of mismanagement and corruption, Mumias sugar could not pay its suppliers on time. 1 year after delivery farmers waited for payment. You could be sent from one office to another, nil!

The senior managers ate well. Had salaries in thousands and millions with boardroom deals and per diems. Manual workers were poorly paid just like farmers.
Then came in the SUGAR IMPORTS.
Cartels struck deals with directors and started importing cheap sugar from Brazil.

This sugar was then repackaged in Mumias sugar processing facilities and came out as company produced brands. Brazilian sugar was cheap and these cartels made a good kill.

The impact of these two issues was huge.
Frustrated farmers stopped farming canes and uprooted everything

No one wanted to be associated with Mumias sugar company.
As a result, they turned to farming food crops, mainly maize.
A few years later, Western is food sufficient! No more hunger games.
Farmers have noticed the importance of farming crops.
They take short term.

In western, the climate is favourable for crop production. A year gives 2 seasons. One can plant maize and beans then harvest twice or even thrice. Prices are fair. They sell some and eat some. Money is in and can sustain families.
The end of bittercane was the end of hunger!

Getting these farmers back to bittercane farming is near impossible. The money the government pumps in ends at paying employees and supplier debts.
Cartels are not keen on reviving these companies. Importation is more lucrative than local processing.

Another factor is land size

Population growth in western is high. Most children inherit only land from parents. Subdivision of land is a daily thing. So the many acres that Mumias sugar enjoyed are no more. Ownership is down from hundreds of acres to plots. The company's nuclear alone cant produce even 20%.

These plot owners are not keen on bittercane production. They are the 2nd and 3rd generations that grew up seeing their parents get frustrated by Mumias sugar.

What the government needs to do is beyond what they can practically do. Politics have also affected its revival.

Currently, there are plans to revive Mumias sugar led by the good governor, @GovWOparanya
Much as his efforts and thinking is good, the reality on the ground is different. What ails sugar farming in western is beyond money and company renovations.
So, Governor, nice try, but...

If you want to help people in western Kenya, give them a crop that is of high value and needs less land as bittercane requires extensive farming to gain. Theres no land for bittercane in Mumias!
Sensitize farmers on new farming trends and use the youths to champion this course.

This thread is just a tip of what is ailing sugar production in western Kenya. An approach that addresses the issues I've raised here, might help.
But there's more to the bittercane than what you guys are trying to address in your revival shenanigans.
#farming
#BlackLivesMatter