The latest acquisition of Naitiri Sugar Company in Bungoma county by the billionaire Rai Family has made it the producer of half of the locally milled sugar.
Naitiri Sugar Company which began milling in May this year is the fourth iller owned by the Rai Family. The group also owns West Kenya, Olepito and Sukari.
The latest acquisition by the Rai Family produces 6,000 tonnes of sugar daily. A move that Business Daily says will see the cost of sugar in the country and its imports cut.
According to data from the Sugar Directorate, Rai’s millers have been producing 43% of sugar in the country for the past 10 months beginning October 2021.
In 2020, West Kenya was among the investors who eyed the leasing deals for the five State-owned sugar factories.
The Kabras-based miller showed interest in running Chemelil, South Nyanza, Nzoia, Miwani and Muhoroni sugar mills on lease terms as part of reforms by the government aimed at reviving the ailing factories.
Between 2019 and last year, West Kenya Sugar Company invested more than Sh1 billion in cane development primarily in Nyanza, western and parts of the Rift Valley to create a sustainable supply to its factories.
The Kabras-based miller has contracted more than 200,000 farmers spread across nine counties of Busia, Kakamega, Bungoma, Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Kericho, Kisumu, Vihiga and Nandi, giving it the largest sugar catchment in the country.
The companies, which are led by their chairman Jaswant Rai, have expanded their cane catchment area to as far as Trans-Nzoia and Uasin Gishu Counties- the regions that are predominantly maize growing.
Saulo Busolo, former chairman of the Kenya Sugar Board, says because the country remains sugar deficit, there is no harm in millers expanding their market share to bridge the Shortage.
“The questions that we should be asking is whether the company in question is paying farmers promptly after harvesting and if they issue permits for cutting cane on time,” said Mr Busolo who is also the chairperson of Kenya National Alliance of Sugarcane Farmers Association.
