Local sugar production in Kenya slumps to a four-year low on cane shortage

Sugar production by Kenyan millers fell by 40 percent in 2023 - a four-year low- due to sugarcane shortages putting pressure on prices of the sweetener. Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that domestic output dropped to 472,773 tonnes in the 12 months to December 2023, down from the 796,600 tonnes produced a year earlier. Read: Cane supply to factories rises steadily as ban ends This could further increase the price of sugar, which has already surged 32 percent over the last year, jumping from Sh159 per kilogramme in January last year to Sh209 at the end of January this year, according to KNBS’ latest inflation figures. Sugar is one of the commodities whose prices have increased by over 30 percent in the last year even as headline inflation slowed. Others are carrots, onions, kerosene, and electricity, whose prices were influenced by a mix of local and international factors, including drought. The drop in sugar production follows a five-month-long ban ...