The slump pours cold water on President William Ruto’s ambition of turning Kenya into a net sugar exporter by 2027.
The drop marked a reversal from the supply glut recorded in 2024 across major growing zones in western Kenya.
Kenya’s domestic sugar production fell 27.2 per cent to 551,805 tonnes in the first 11 months of 2025, dealing a blow to long-running efforts to revive an industry that remains mired in supply disruptions, policy uncertainty, and structural weakness.
Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that output dropped from 758,302 tonnes produced over a similar period in 2024, reversing gains recorded during the brief recovery phase.
