Farmers making sugarcane juice to curb exploitation by millers
Tom Zirimenya operates one of the machines during production. PHOTO/ESTHER BRIDGET NAKALYA
What you need to know:
- The current price of a 50 kilogramme bag of sugar is Shs132,000, down from Shs250,000 last December and Shs150,000 in July.
- The General Secretary Busoga Sugarcane Out growers Association, Mr David Christopher Mombwe, said sugarcane prices are likely to continue dropping because Kenya has been Uganda’s biggest export market.
Farmers under Mukono Sugarcane Out Growers Cooperative Society Limited have ventured into making juice to allegedly avoid being exploited by millers.
The Chairperson Mukono Sugarcane Out Growers Cooperative Society Ltd, Mr Julius Katerevu, said in doing so, they will also be adding value to their raw material (sugarcane).
“As farmers from Greater Mukono, we have decided to start a sugarcane juice factory to add value to our raw material and avoid being exploited by millers,” Mr Katerevu said in an interview on September 9.
He added: “Sugarcane juice is anti-aging and medicinal; so, we are going to avoid selling our raw cane to millers, and also plan to make paper products and charcoal from raw cane.”
According to Mr Katerevu, from one acre, a farmer can get 28,000 litres of sugarcane juice and earn Sh14m annually, and appealed to the government for support in their new innovation.
Sugarcane farmers are currently crying foul following the ban on exportation of sugar to Kenya, which has further reduced the current price of raw cane to Shs80,000 per ton. This is in contrast to the Shs240,000 that was being paid per ton last December and Shs100,000 last month.
Conversely, the current price of a 50 kilogramme bag of sugar is Shs132,000, down from Shs250,000 last December and Shs150,000 in July.
A sugarcane juice stall on Main Street in Jinja City as seen on September 10, 2024. Farmers have ventured into making such juice reportedly to avoid being exploited by millers. PHOTO/PHILIP WAFULA
The Chairperson Uganda Sugar Manufacturers Association (USMA), Mr Jim Kabeho, said they have decided to reduce the purchase price of sugarcane because the demand for sugar is higher than supply.
“Nobody is buying sugar; so, we have to cut down the prices. The prices of sugar are going down, while that of sugarcane is also going down. It is ‘havoc’ for us, and the whole industry is in ‘chaos’,” Mr Kabeho said.
He added that they have written to the government to have the issue (ban) sorted “because it is against our East African Community (EAC) customs protocols of free common market and customs which allows us to export sugar.”
He further explained: “You can’t stop trade when other products are being traded just because you are protecting one local commodity. You must compete. We have a bilateral agreement with Kenya to export 90,000 metric tons per year.”
Mr Katerevu urged millers not to take advantage of the ban (on the exportation of sugar to Kenya) to reduce sugarcane prices, despite the high cost of production.
“We have seven countries in the East African common market, but countries like Burundi and Tanzania all buy our sugar because we are the only country with surplus (sugar).
“So, millers are taking advantage of that to reduce cane prices because they get many products from sugarcane, including electricity,” Mr Katerevu said, adding that millers are used to reducing sugarcane prices when parents, who are farmers, are taking their children to school.
The General Secretary Busoga Sugarcane Out growers Association, Mr David Christopher Mombwe, said sugarcane prices are likely to continue dropping because Kenya has been Uganda’s biggest export market.
“It is such a big blow to the Ugandan market, especially sugarcane farmers, because the market in Kenya has been our major market; so, when they stop purchasing our sugar, it lowers the income size of our factories and contributes to a drop in sugarcane prices because the local consumption is small.”
The chairperson Constitutional Committee Busoga Sugarcane Growers Association, Mr Godfrey Naitema, said they operate at losses when the purchase price of raw cane is Shs90,000 per ton.
He asked: “Previously, millers have been enjoying our profits by paying us peanuts, but they are now consuming even our capital with Shs90,000 per tonne. How will we be able to pay off the loans?”
Mr Naitema says if Kenya banned the importation of sugar from Uganda, the latter should reciprocate.
The Chairperson of Uganda National Sugarcane Growers Association, Mr Isa Budhugo asked President Museveni to convince the millers so that farmers can have share from other products like fertilizers, electricity, biogas and ethanol other than benefiting from sugar only.
Mr Budhugo also appealed to the government to buy the surplus sugar from millers and keep it as they wait for the market as other countries have done as a way of stabilizing the sugar industry.
