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Farmers task Parliament to expedite Sugar Bill to regulate sector
Workers gesture after loading cane on sugarcane trucks in Jinja City in 2024. PHOTO/TAUSI NAKATO.
What you need to know:
- Sugarcane prices in Mayuge, Mukono, Buikwe, and Buvuma districts have reduced from Shs250,000 in December last year to Shs90,000 per ton, while the price of a 50-kilogramme bag of sugar prices has reduced from Shs250,000 to Shs150,000.
Farmers under the Greater Mukono Sugarcane out Growers Cooperative have asked Parliament to expedite the passing of the Sugar Amendment Bill (2023) as one way of regulating the sector, especially low cane prices.
The Bill was tabled for first reading by State Minister for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Mr David Bahati on December 5, 2023 during plenary sitting.
It provides for Uganda Sugar Industry Stakeholder Council to replace and take on duties of the Sugar Board created by the Sugar Act (2020), and regulate the sugar sector, among others.
The farmers’ latest appeal is contained in a seven-page petition dated June 22, 2024, to the Speaker of Parliament, Ms Anita Among, signed by their Association’s chairperson, Mr Julius Katerevu.
Mr Katerevu says the enactment of the proposed amendment on the Sugar Bill (2023) will reduce the alleged exploitation of farmers by millers who pay them low prices for their sugarcane.
Sugarcane prices in Mayuge, Mukono, Buikwe, and Buvuma districts have reduced from Shs250,000 in December last year to Shs90,000 per ton, while the price of a 50-kilogramme bag of sugar prices has reduced from Shs250,000 to Shs150,000.
Subsequently, from July 7, 2024, farmers have stopped supplying sugarcane to the millers until prices are increased. Most factories have since halted production to-date.
According to Mr Katerevu, “millers have deliberately chosen to connive to exploit us on grounds of a lot of cheap untaxed sugar and other cane products entering the country through porous borders.”
He added, “They [millers] assert that sugar and spirits are being repackaged and sold on the local market, high costs of production and government taxes. I urge the government to open up the East African market for sugar export to reduce the alleged high stock in the country.”
Mr Katerevu also wants the government to investigate the millers’ allegations that there is cheap and illegal sugar entering the country and if true, combat the vice because it is “ultimately and negatively impacting on the sector”.
He further appealed to the government to expedite and constitute the National Sugar Council with prices and quality committee, support farmers with cheaper agricultural inputs like fertilizers, cash grants and tractors to reduce high production costs.
The Buikwe South Member of Parliament (MP) and Vice Chairperson Buganda Parliamentary Caucus, Dr Michael Lulume Bayiga, who received the petition on behalf of Speaker Anita Among, urged the government to manage the artificial supply of sugar which is affecting the sector, including prices.
“When there is too much sugar in the country, especially the smuggled ones, it lowers its prices and consequently that of the sugarcane,” Dr Bayiga said.
Mukono District Woman MP, Ms Hanifa Nabukeera said the Sugar Bill issue will be prioritised when the House resumes business on Tuesday, July 23.
“We are from recess, but are going to handle that issue [Sugar Bill] first the way we did with fishing. The amendment of the Bill will address the problem, especially low cane prices,” she said.
Nakifuma legislator, Mr Fred Kaggwa Ssimbwa, who sits on the Trade Committee, said they will kick start the shifting of farmers from the Ministry of Trade to that of Agriculture where the government offers tractors and fertilisers.
The farmers have been clamouring to have the law amended to have them placed under the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries instead of the Ministry of Trade, which they accuse of “siding with investors”, among other concessions.
MP gives nod to farmers’ strike
Mr Ssimbwa urged farmers to go ahead with the strike until their issues are handled, saying millers rely on them to produce sugar, fertilisers, biogas, and ethanol, among others.
Sugarcane out Growers supply approximately 80 percent (53,200 tons per day) of the available crushing installed capacity to 16 sugar mills, excluding Shakit, CN, and Kidera, which are both new mills under construction.
The Deputy General Manager Administration of Sugar Corporation of Uganda Limited (Scoul), Mr Wilberforce Mubiru, attributed the low cane prices to absence of the law that governs the sector.
He said: “Scoul doesn’t determine the prices of sugar in Uganda; there is no law in the industry where you put money. If you grow cane, just know the prices can drop to Shs50,000.
“The sugar policy of 2010 no longer works, the Sugar Act (2020) was not implemented and the Sugar Bill (2023) is still in Parliament.”
According to Mr Mubiru, the only solution is to come up with Sugar Industry Regulation, citing Tanzania and Mauritius which he says have laws and therefore, prices can’t be reduced habitually.
