The Kenya National Federation of Sugarcane farmers has urged the government to put measures in place that will cater for the comfort and needs of the farmers. Speaking during a farmers’ baraza held at Bukembe market, Bungoma County, the Federation chairman Ibrahim Juma said the government is to be blamed for not putting in place laws and regulations to guide farmers and millers.
Juma said that most of the millers have failed to pay the farmers deliberately because there are no rules to guide the farmers in case they want to pursue legal action, adding that more than Kshs 2.4 billion hasn’t been paid to the farmers since 2002. He also called upon the former chairman of the Kenya Sugar Board Saulo Busolo to give the committee constituted by Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri ample time to work on issues affecting farmers and submit the findings. Ibrahim cited that Busolo has been repeatedly seen on media lamenting the committee is not competent enough.
On the issue of zoning, the Federation Secretary General Ezra Okoth said they support the process totally, and he urged farmers to also support zoning saying it will penultimately contribute to the region’s economic growth. He said that most people who don’t support zoning because they say farmers are exploited don’t understand its importance and may need to be educated on the issue, “Cane farmers are free to sell their cane to any miller but based on Counties. Farmers from Bungoma and parts of Kakamega are free to sell to either Nzoia, Butali, Kabras and other millers around and not beyond,” said Okoth.
The meeting was set to discuss issues affecting farmers such as payment within seven days of sugarcane delivery, the establishment of a national office within the Western region, low cost of cane transportation, and the establishment of laws and regulations that guide cane farmers and millers.
By Thadeus Wachiye
