South Nyanza sugar company limited, a firm located in the western region of Kenya has proved to offer cane suppliers more misery than pleasantry. Over the past, this factory has been the bedrock of the locals’ economy. Several people in the region have built spectacular houses, bought super-vehicles and recorded an upthrust trend as far as living standards is concerned.
During the hey days, the company supplied farmers with equipment such as tractors, farming materials such as seed-cane, fertilizers and advisory services at subsidized rates. The firm had a dedicated staff that would walk with the farmers from the inception of the project till its conclusion. Monitoring and evaluation was done on regular basis to ensure super-quality products. Farmers only had to acquire land after which, the factory would provide you both technical know how and physical facilities to be used in the process. The firm looked for seed-cane on your behalf, harvested it and delivered it to your farm. It ploughed the land for you, harrowed it and ridged it on your behalf.
As soon as your sugar-cane matured, the company again harvested it and transported it for you to their plant. They processed for you all the activities till your money is taken to your bank account within a span of two weeks.
Current situation.
The company cannot afford enough fuel to transport harvested sugar-cane even from its nuclear parcels on a regular basis. Farms which had hitherto been ploughed using tractors are today being done by oxen. People plough on their own, search for their seed-cane and plant them if you need everything to be done on your farm on time.
Punch line:
The worst scenario is the duration that your proceeds take before you receive your money from the factory. In most cases, it takes nine months before a farmer receives his money after delivering the canes to the factory. This has discouraged the farmers so much and now they are opting for alternative source of livelihood.