Ugandans to be registered as sugarcane out growers must be in possession of not less than one hectare of land on which to grow it and they will be required to sell their cane to specific sugar factories.
This is according to the new regulations to regulate Uganda’s sugar sector issued by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives.
The stringent regulations also the establishment of sugar factories or mills next to each other.
The Sugar Regulations, 2025 were tabled by Wilson Mbadi, Minister of State for Trade during the 20th October 2025 plenary sitting.
The regulations are intended to operationalise The Sugar Act 2020, whose enactment witnessed a series of disagreements between Government and players in the sector.
In section 4 of the Sugar Regulations, Government has imposed conditions on how one can attain a licence to establish and operate mill stipulating that a person shall not establish or operate a sugar mill, jaggery mill or a plant to process the by-products of sugarcane without a valid licence granted for that purpose by the Minister.
However, in the new regulations, a licenses would not be granted where (a) the proposed mill or plant is to be situated in a place where there exists an established mill or plant and the surrounding land is not sufficient to produce enough sugarcane to support more than one mill or plant; or (b) the natural resources to support the mill or plant such as water are not sufficient to support more than one mill or plant on a sustainable basis.
The other conditions imposed against the granting of licenses is if (c) the mill to be established will adversely impact on the environment, the society, or the economic viability of the sugar industry in general; or (d) the person fails to provide an acceptable plan and undertaking on how the proposed mill or plant will develop new sources of sugarcane without affecting the existing sugar cane supply.
In Section 4(4) of the Sugar Regulations, before a licence is refused under subregulation (3)(a), the Minister shall ensure that the existing mill or plant is being operated efficiently and the miller has the capacity or is willing to provide the capacity to mill all the sugar cane which may be produced in the area.
The Ministry of Trade went further to demand in Section 13 (l) that a person granted a licence shall commence business within three years after the grant of the licence and where a person granted a licence does not commence business within three years after the grant of the licence, the Minister shall on the recommendation of the Council. revoke the licence.
The Ministry of Trade has imposed restriction on growing or selling sugar cane without registration by the Sugar Council stipulating in section 19 (l) where a person shall not grow or supply sugarcane to a person licensed or registered under these Regulations unless the person is registered with the Council and further in section 19 (2), a person licensed under these Regulations shall not procure or buy sugarcane from a person who is not registered by the Council.
For anyone who contravenes this particular regulation, they would be deemed to have committed an offence and shall. on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding two currency points (UGX40,000) or imprisonment not exceeding six months or both.
For the first time, Government is moving to register all sugar cane out growers in Uganda where the Ministry of Trade has provided in Section 22 (l) that a person shall not be eligible for registration as an out grower unless (a) the person is already growing sugarcane at the time of application for registration or has ascertainable intentions to commence growing cane within a period of six months from the date of being registered.
The other condition is in Section 22(1)(b) where the person can be registered as an outgrower if he/she has been selling or supplying sugarcane to a sugar mill or plant and the name of the person appears in the records of the mill or plant.
The Ministry of Trade has also proposed that for one to be registered as a sugarcane outgrower, the area under sugarcane or area on which sugarcane is to be grown is not less than one hectare; and such a person should provide sufficient proof to the Council that he or she is able to transport and deliver sugarcane to the mill or plant.
