Kwale International Sugar Company Ltd, February 7, 2019. [File, Standard]
The Sugar cane farmers in Kwale County are set to receive Sh66 million in outstanding arrears as Kwale International Sugar Company Limited (KISCOL) gears up for reopening after nine years of closure.
The release of the money is aimed at restoring confidence among cane farmers and encouraging them to resume planting after several farmers abandoned sugar cane farming.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary (CS) Mutahi Kagwe told the farmers that a multi-agency committee has been formed to verify the qualified cane suppliers to be compensated.
Kagwe said the revival is expected to reduce Kenya's dependence on imported sugar by increasing domestic production while creating a stable market for local cane farmers.
"The revival is set to restore thousands of jobs, revive sugarcane farming across the Coast region and inject billions of shillings into the local economy," said Kagwe.
The committee will be led by Kenya Sugar Board, Kwale County Government, investors, farmers, security agencies and local leaders and will be charged with resettlement of 15,000 squatters occupying 7,000 acres of the factory's land, many of whom are also part of the local farming community.
The payout covers the local out grower farmers contracted by KISCOL to deliver cane but were never compensated before operations ground to a halt in 2018 after the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) abruptly shut down the factory and seized its sugar over compliance claims.