Kenya: Sugarcane farmers want an extension of restrictions on sugar imports as this will safeguard their benefits
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The issue has been raised by the Kenya National Alliance of Sugarcane Farmers Organization as the import safeguards put by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) is about to expire and they fear that the farmers may lose the market for their produce.
The safeguards allow Kenya to limit duty-free sugar imports from Comesa countries to a maximum of 350,000 tonnes annually.
Saulo Busolo, chairman of the organization said that the safeguards introduced in 2002 have been extended nine times and have yielded some success. “The sugar industry will die and farmers won’t survive if the sugar imports are allowed without restrictions,” he further added.
