The government-led reforms launched last year are geared towards providing long-term solutions to perennial problems facing the sugar sector, the Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) has said.
While assuring Kenyans of stable sugar prices amid production costs occasioned by unfavourable weather conditions, deliberate protection of future and other structural reforms, KSB Chief Executive Officer Jude Chesire said the reforms were already paying off.
He said the farmer-centred reforms promote market stabilisation by ensuring that sugar remains available, prices remain predictable, and consumers are protected from artificial shortages and speculation.
In a statement to newsrooms, Chesire sought to reassure Kenyans of price stability, saying there was no need for panic.
“We wish to assure Kenyans that there is no cause for panic and continue buying sugar with confidence,” he said.
“Farmers remain at the centre of the recovery strategy. The challenges of late 2025 and early 2026 are real, but they are temporary. The reforms are permanent. The assurance to Kenyans is clear: sugar supply will remain stable as the industry completes its recovery,” he said, emphatically.
He maintained that Kenya’s sugar supply remains secure despite rising demand driven by population growth, expanding urban consumption, and increased industrial use. He also called for calm as the sector navigates “a challenging production cycle that began in 2025 and has extended into early 2026.”
The government and industry regulators have put in place market stabilisation measures to ensure sugar remains available, prices remain predictable, and consumers are protected from artificial shortages and speculation, even as production recovers and dry conditions persist in early 2026, he affirmed.
Chesire maintained that much of the mature cane was harvested in 2024, leading to high production that year.
“In 2025, a significant portion of cane was still in developmental stages and could not be harvested,” he explained.
According to him, this necessitated the temporary closure of seven sugar factories in Lower and Upper Western regions to allow the cane to reach optimal maturity, ensuring higher sucrose content and protecting farmers’ future earnings.
At the same time, state-owned sugar factories were closed initially to facilitate leasing to private investors as part of the private sector mill transitions and rehabilitation.
And, following the handover, these factories underwent extensive renovations and rehabilitation worth Ksh 12.5 billion, resulting in a total of approximately nine months of reduced milling capacity. Kwale Sugar also remained non-operational during 2025.
Chesire said that the sugar production in 2025 stood at 613,000 metric tonnes, meeting only 61 per cent of the national demand of 1.2 million metric tonnes.
Describing 2025 as a transition year for the sugar sector, Chesire said that long-term farmer-centred strategies have been put in place.
