Kenya sugar production seen up 19% on year.

Kenya expects its sugar production to jump by up to 19 percent this year, recovering from a drought-induced drop the previous year. The East African nation has an annual sugar consumption of 870 000 tonnes but production has slumped due to a high cost of production, old and inefficient sugar crushing machinery as well as mismanagement and theft of farmers’ funds. It relies on duty-free imports from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) trade bloc to cover its annual deficits.