Kenya Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) Director-General Alfred Busolo has said the Government will import more than 100,000 tonnes of sugar to curb the ongoing shortage in the country.
Mr Busolo said that out of the 100 000 tonnes of sugar, the first batch of 40,000 tonnes will be arriving within the next three weeks while the remaining 60,000 tonnes would be shipped in the next two months.
Shortages of sugar experienced in recent months have pushed up the price of the commodity to Sh 385 for a 2kg packet from a low of Sh 240.
He attributed the shortage to inefficiencies in the factories that has seen production drop due to the effects of the prolonged drought. Kenya’s annual average sugar production stands at 630,000 tonnes, against a consumption of 900,000 tonnes.
He also added that some local traders were hoarding sugar in order to distribute them to the market at very high prices. Mr Busolo said they had ordered all factories in the country to release all the sugar stocks, lest they faced punitive measures.
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