Government rejects proposal to export sugarcane

Stuck. Farmers, according to reports are stuck with cane as industries cut back on consumption. PHOTO BY SCOVIA ATUHAIRE  

In Summary

• Cut back on consumption. Reports indicate mills have cut back on cane consumption from about 650 million metric tonnes per year to 430 million.

By Joanita Mbabazi & Thembo Kahungu

Kampala. Government cannot allow sugarcane farmers in Busoga to export cane to neighboring countries, Trade Minister Amelia Kyambadde, has said.

The export, she said, is against the exportation policy that limits selling of raw materials of locally manufactured goods to foreigners.
“I insist that the issue of exporting sugarcane is out of order. We are not going to export raw materials for goods that are being manufactured in our country,” she said.

The pronouncement follows reports that mills have cut back on cane consumption from about 650 million metric tonnes per year to 430 million metric tonnes.
This has also seen sugar production fall from about 600,000 metric tonnes to 410,000 metric tonnes.

Ms Kyambadde also said that Uganda can nolonger experiment given that the country in 2014 witnessed a decline in sugar production, which fell from 413,000 to 354,574 metric tonnes in 2017.
The cut back on cane consumption, according to people familiar with the sugar industry, could also be a result of a slowdown in production given that Sugar Corporation of Uganda Limited and Kakira Sugar are currently undergoing or in the final stages of a planned annual factory maintenance.

Ms Kyambadde said, there had also been reports of production breakdowns at Mayuge Sugar and G.M Sugar Limited, noting that normal cane demand will resume once these issues are sorted.
The sugar industry has also seen a rise in installed capacity but production continues to be low because of low demand.

The minister was responding to Bugabula South MP Henry Kibalya, who said farmers in Busoga are stuck with thousands of tonnes of cane because millers failing to buy it. Mr Kibalya had urged government to allow farmers to export cane to Kenya, which was willing to import at least 600 tonnes per day from Uganda.
sugar producers must be able to purchase specified tonnes of cane throughout the year thus preventing a situation where famers are forced into incurring losses.

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“What the minister is says is not true. The sugar manufacturers have made statements assuring famers that they have enough cane and so they do not need to buy,” he said, noting that government should not “condemn our people into poverty”.

Saving farmers from losses

MPs are challenging Ms Kyambadde, saying farmers cannot just look on as their cane goes to waste. Bulamogi MP Kenneth Lubogo, said sugar producers must be able to purchase specified tonnes of cane throughout the year thus preventing a situation where famers are forced into incurring losses. “What the minister is says is not true. The sugar manufacturers have made statements assuring famers that they have enough cane. So they do not need to buy,” he said, noting that government should not “condemn our people into poverty”.

editorial@ug.nationmeida.com