KSB chief executive officer Jude Chesire/HANDOUTThe Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) says millers who fail to meet the seven-day payment period will face sanctions, including interest charges on delayed payments.
KSB chief executive officer Jude Chesire said the regulator was also moving to address concerns over cane weighing, with some farmers reportedly losing up to three tonnes of cane per trailer.
The disputed weight deductions can affect the amount farmers are paid for cane delivered to millers.
KSB is procuring mobile weighbridges to allow independent verification of cane weights and strengthen oversight of the weighing process.
The board is also supporting the use of cane-testing units as the industry moves towards a payment system based on both cane quality and sugar content rather than weight alone.
The measures come as Kenya records a recovery in sugar production, although domestic output remains below national demand.
Domestic sugar production reached 815,454 metric tonnes in 2024, the highest level in recent years. Production stood at 611,576 metric tonnes in 2025.
Between January and July 2026, Kenya produced 528,875 metric tonnes of sugar.
Production rose to 89,709 metric tonnes in June and reached a record 91,022 metric tonnes in July, according to the report.
Despite the improvement, Kenya remains a sugar-deficit country. Annual demand is estimated at about 1.2 million metric tonnes.
This includes approximately one million metric tonnes of brown or table sugar and 200,000 metric tonnes of white refined sugar used for industrial purposes.
National sugar consumption reached approximately 1.216 million metric tonnes in 2025.
The supply gap is being bridged through imports, mainly from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and East African Community regions.
Kenya imported 477,551 metric tonnes of sugar in 2025. Between January and July 2026, the country imported another 65,081 metric tonnes of brown sugar.
White refined sugar remains a particular concern because of the cost of imports.
KSB estimates that Kenya spends about Sh30 billion each year importing white refined sugar. The government wants more of this money to remain in the local economy by increasing sugarcane production and developing domestic refining capacity.
As part of the response, Kenya has started refining imported raw sugar locally instead of relying entirely on finished refined sugar.
Mombasa Sugar Refinery Limited, which has an installed refining capacity of about 150,000 metric tonnes annually, imported 27,839 metric tonnes of raw sugar and has started local refining.
KSB says safeguards have been put in place to ensure the raw sugar does not enter the table-sugar market before undergoing refining.
The board is also seeking to address delays in harvesting and cane delivery.
Millers have been directed to establish clear cane harvesting frameworks by September 10. The move is intended to streamline harvesting, transportation and delivery and reduce delays that can leave mature cane deteriorating on farms.
In the longer term, the Ministry of Agriculture, through KSB, is targeting higher cane acreage and productivity, improved milling efficiency, greater value addition and expanded domestic refining capacity.
The measures are intended to strengthen the sugar value chain while reducing Kenya's reliance on imported sugar.
