Kenyans will be forced to dig deeper into their pockets as sugar prices are set for fresh increase in the coming days after the government raised the buying price for a tonne of sugar cane paid to farmers.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya last week increased producers’ price of sugar cane from Sh3,833 per tonne to Sh4,112, effective November 18, with millers expected to pass this cost to consumers.
Neutrameal now sells two-kilogramme packet for Sh295, having jumped 18 per cent in a span of one week. This is the same for some other sugar brands in the markets.
This is the second time that the government has reviewed the price of sugar cane, coming as a boost to farmers.
The government of Kenya gazetted new regulations known as the Crops (Sugar) (Imports, Exports and By-products) Regulations 2020 governs importation of Sugar in the country and provides for a sugarcane pricing committee responsible for developing the pricing formula and reviewing them based on the cost of the commodity on shelves.
The rising cost of sugar and other commodities will impact negatively on inflation as food basket is a major driver of the cost of living.
Inflation in October dropped to 6.4 per cent from 6.91 per cent a month earlier in what Kenya National Bureau of Statistics attributed to low food prices.
