Thousands of workers in the sugar industry are set for tough times after the government imposed a three-month suspension of milling operations in both the Lower and Upper Western sugarcane zones, effective July 14.
In a letter to the sugarcane zones, Acting Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) CEO Jude Chesire announced that the suspension was due to an acute shortage of mature sugarcane, which is necessary to support milling operations. "This is due to inadequate cane development to match milling capacity.
This has led to harvesting and subsequent milling of immature cane," the letter read in part.
The government's announcement has caused uncertainty among cane farmers in the affected regions.
