Farmers have emerged the winners after the regulator increased the cost at which millers buy sugarcane to Sh4,300 per metric tonne, piling pressure on the cash-strapped State-owned factories.The new price is Sh500 more than the Sh3,800 that millers have been paying farmers since October.“The recommended price was adjusted to Sh4,800 but millers are free to pay anything above that,” said Sugar Directorate head Solomon Odera.Nzoia owes cane growers Sh263 million while Mumias Sugar’s debt to farmers stands at Sh1 billion.The government is yet to release Sh800 million that President Uhuru Kenyatta promised two millers during his political campaign tour in western Kenya nearly a month ago.Critics have blamed a high cost of production for the woes facing Kenya’s sugar industry.Poorly funded government factories have aging machinery that is prone to break down.Kenya produces 600,000 tonnes of sugar annually and it relies on imports to meet the growing demand that currently stands at 900,000.The country is allowed to bring in 300,000 tonnes of duty free sugar every year from Comesa states.

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