Uganda Battles Sugar Price Increase as Climate Change Bites Hard
Gigantic machines at Kakira Sugar factory in eastern Uganda roar throughout the day and night processing the popular sweet product. Truck loads of sugarcane line outside the factory premises waiting to deliver cane. However on the farms and in the market, things are a little different as the prices of the end product, sugar, are skyrocketing mainly due to the long dry spell that the country experienced last year. Less cane is now brought to the factory as a result of poor harvests. This has resulted in falling sugar production. Figures from the Uganda Sugar Manufacturer's Association (USMA) show that the country has been producing 500,000 tonnes of sugar a year but due to shortage of the sugarcane, production is now below 450,000 tonnes.
Icaro Cooke Vieira/CIFOR