Why govt sets Busoga sugarcane price at sh125,000 minimum per ton

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Sugarcane farmers in Busoga region can finally afford a smile after the Government, through the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (MTIC), intervened on Thursday, December 19, 2025, and set the new cane price at sh125,000 per ton. This follows an uproar after the sugar companies announced they had cut the price of cane, with some paying up to sh90,000 per ton.

The Minister of Trade, Frank Mwebesa, who on Friday hosted a meeting for Sugar Industry Stakeholders Council and the sugar millers in Busoga region, said this was a temporary measure for two months. 

The move aims to ensure socio-political stability in Busoga pending a full review by the Sugar Industry Stakeholders Council.

Six sugar millers from Busoga attended the meeting, namely: Sugar Corporation of Uganda Limited (SCOUL), Kakira Sugar, GM Sugar, Kamuli Sugar, Mayuge Sugar and Bugiri Sugar.

The state minister for cooperatives, Frederick Ngobi Gume, the Chairperson of the National Biofuels Committee and former minister Daudi Migereko, plus ministry officials, also attended the meeting in the ministry offices in Kampala.

Mwebesa, who chaired the meeting, revealed that his ministry received complaints from sugarcane out-growers regarding the low sugarcane prices.

Sugarcane growing in Busoga is a dominant economic activity, with the region holding significant milling capacity. However, despite this farmer’s face exploitation, low prices, and poverty, despite the crop's potential for income, leading to calls for farmers in the region to switch to growing more competitive food crops.

“We have been receiving concerns of sugarcane out-growers regarding arbitrary low sugarcane prices, which we consider valid and directly impact farmer livelihoods, mill supply stability and the social and political stability in sugarcane growing areas", said Mwebesa.

The majority of the concerns from the sugar were tabled by cane farmers from Busoga claimed that four new processors were offering prices that were way below what is indicated in the formula for sugar pricing under the Sugar Amendment Act 2025. There is also a concern by out-growers on the 5 percent deduction for trash that some sugar millers still charge farmers, yet the sugar council pronounced itself on the matter, removing this deduction.

Mwebesa urged the millers to desist from practices that will affect farmers’ incomes/earnings.

“Sugarcane pricing should be determined by the Sugar Industry Stakeholders Council as clearly stipulated in the new Sugar Amendment Act 202”, explained Mwebesa.

In response, Henry Kata from GM Sugar informed the meeting that the fluctuating sugarcane prices are caused by a number of factors that the MTIC and the Sugar Industry Stakeholders Council need to look into and come up with solutions.

"Although the Sugar Amendment Act of 2025 provides a formula for sugarcane pricing, we end up offering different prices to the farmers because of the other factors at play, for instance, our costs of production differ, and therefore, we cannot offer the same prices”, explained Kata.

Minister Gume requested the millers with low prices to revise their prices upwards for a period of two months, pending a review of the sugarcane pricing across the country by the Sugar Industry Stakeholders Council. Gume said the move will ensure social and political stability in the Busoga region, especially during the current political period.

The sugar millers, led by Akash of GM Sugar, Yogesh Agri and Ismail Nasifu of Kamuli Sugar, unanimously agreed to set a minimum price of a ton of sugarcane at sh125,000 across the entire Busoga region for a period of two months, pending a review of this matter by the sugar council.

The Chairperson of the Sugar Industry Stakeholders Council, Rajbir Singh Rai of Kinyara Sugar, urged the sugar millers to comply with the new law, which provides a clear formula for sugarcane pricing so that there is harmony in the sugar sector.

On Thursday, State Minister for Youth and Children Affairs Balaamu Barugahara took to social media and criticised the companies for exploiting farmers. He said many young sugarcane farmers in Busoga had reached out to him, expressing their dissatisfaction with the unfair decision to reduce cane prices.

“The move by some sugar factories to slash the price of sugarcane to as low as sh110,000 per tonne just 30 days before the election in Busoga raises serious concerns and must be thoroughly investigated. If the motive behind this price reduction is genuine, then the price of sugar, the final product, should also be reduced accordingly. Targeting farmers alone is unacceptable,” he said.

Balaam called upon the Sugar Council and other relevant government agencies to urgently intervene and protect our farmers—our fathers—as well as final consumers from exploitation.