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{
    "id": 664229,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/664229/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 18,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Wamunyinyi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 291,
        "legal_name": "Athanas Misiko Wafula Wamunyinyi",
        "slug": "athanas-wamunyinyi"
    },
    "content": "I do not mean you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, but the many Kenyans that consume it. Also, you will not commit an offence if you take it. The sugar industry has had challenges and problems in the past, which are purely related to the cost of production. In fact, we cannot compete in the region even within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) countries because of the difficulties we have in the cost of sugar. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, an estimated 25 per cent of the country’s population depends directly or indirectly on the sugar industry for their livelihood. In my constituency and the neighbouring constituencies like Mumias, Kabuchai, Bumula, Webuye and others, close to 90 per cent of the constituents are sugarcane farmers. Most of them entirely rely on what they get from sugarcane to meet their obligations like school fees for their children and enhancement of their lives. Therefore, this is very important to us. It also extends to the consumers who do not grow cane, but take sugar. Consumers do not participate in the production of sugar, but they use a lot of it. I have mentioned some uses of sugar in our country. In recent years, the industry has faced many challenges including trade liberalisation. That has made it very difficult for us to move forward. We have been negotiating with COMESA for extension of the period and for an open market within the sugar industry. It cannot work with the kind of production cost that we experience in our country. So, this is not just limited to the farmer, but it is going to help consumers of cane, business people and all the stakeholders involved in the sugar industry. The other thing that should be noted is that as a result of these challenges, the sugar industry has been under threat. It has been threatened by the importers of cheap sugar into our country because we do not produce the required amount of sugar that Kenyans want to consume. Therefore, some percentage of cheap sugar is imported into our market which affects the performance of our companies in terms of selling the available sugar. Our sugar is very expensive in terms of production. This affects the domestic market through tariff and non-tariff barriers. The production of sugarcane in our country is dominated by small-scale farmers constituting about 92 to 95 per cent of the cane produced for sugar. The sugar companies only produce about 5 per cent in the nucleus estates. In fact, Nzoia Sugar Company in my constituency has the highest of about 15,000 acres of nucleus estates. Because of this, the small- scale outgrowers do not have a lot of technical capacity. They have limited capital and produce sugar under rain-fed conditions besides a few cane estates owned by the companies. It is important to consider supporting these farmers. Harvesting and transportation represent a large cost. In today’s Daily Nation, Jaindi Kisero is criticising the move by the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury with regard to the Sugar Development Levy. This is not related to my amendment. The CS was targeting to cut the levy on the product in the shops in an attempt to cut down on the costs and also to deny the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}