Tana River Sugar Company is turning the fertile land along the Tana into one of Kenya’s most ambitious agro-industrial ventures: a single, integrated complex that grows cane, mills sugar, distills ethanol and generates clean power — and brings thousands of livelihoods with it.
Tana River Sugar Company (TRSC) is a Kenyan agribusiness developing a large-scale, integrated sugar and renewable-energy complex at Bura, in Tana River County.
What drives us is the food security of the nation and the prosperity of the people who make it possible.
We have invested deliberately in large-scale agriculture: producing sugar Kenya currently imports, generating renewable power, and unlocking the immense potential of Tana River County. We are equally invested in its people — growing local livelihoods, incomes and opportunity so that this prosperity is shared across the county and felt in every community.
We operate in partnership with the Government of Kenya, the National Irrigation Authority and the people of Tana River — because a project this size only works when the community grows with it.
Kenya grows less sugar than it needs and pays the difference at the border.
The country consumes more than 1.2 million tonnes of sugar a year, while domestic mills produce only 600,000–700,000 tonnes. The gap is filled by imports of roughly half a million tonnes annually — a sugar import bill that runs above US$300 million every year.
Most local cane is rain-fed, grown on fragmented smallholdings in the high-altitude west, where it takes 18–24 months to mature and yields stay low. The result is an industry that is chronically short of supply and exposed to the cost of imports.
Tana River Sugar Company was built to change that equation.
An integrated agro-industrial complex four operations on one site, each feeding the next, with nothing wasted.
A 50,000-acre irrigated sugarcane estate drawing water from the Tana River through the National Irrigation Authority’s canals — using precision farming and high-yielding varieties to produce roughly 1.2 million tonnes of cane a year, year-round, on land transformed by modern irrigation.
A modern mill starting at 2,000 TCD and expandable to 8,000 TCD, built for efficiency and modern process control — targeting around 120,000 MT of sugar a year to help close Kenya’s deficit.
A 55 KLPD distillery converting molasses into fuel-grade ethanol — about 13 million litres a year, adding industrial and export value from a by-product that would otherwise go unused.
A 25 MW biomass co-generation plant powered by bagasse, the fibre left after milling. It runs the complex on clean energy and exports the surplus to the national grid.
Jobs where they’re needed most. On the way to over 3,000 direct jobs, positioning TRSC as one of the region’s largest employers, from field and factory to skilled technical roles.
A market for 10,000+ out-growers. Smallholder farmers around Bura will gain a guaranteed buyer, modern inputs and training, turning subsistence plots into reliable income.
Regional growth. Roads, irrigation, power and skills will follow the complex, building lasting growth across Tana River County and the wider region.
National food security. Sugar Kenya now imports will increasingly be grown at home, reducing the import bill and the country’s exposure to global price swings.
Clean, circular by design. Bagasse becomes power and molasses becomes ethanol, an integrated model built to draw full value from every stalk of cane.
On the ground today: We’ve established a trial seed-cane nursery to prove the best varieties for Bura’s soil and climate, set up centre-pivot irrigation, begun land preparation and planting, and recruited and trained local workers in mechanised farming and irrigation. Early growth data points to strong yield potential and good resilience against regional pests and disease — and our environmental studies, water permits and community engagement are progressing in step.
Bura Irrigation Scheme, Tana River County
an alluvial terrace sloping gently toward the Tana River, about 200 km upstream from the Indian Ocean, connected by road to Garissa (75 km) and Garsen (150 km).
To sustainably produce high-quality sugar at competitive prices — empowering local farmers, fostering economic growth, and advancing Kenya’s goal of sugar self-sufficiency through innovation, efficiency and ethical practice.
To be Kenya’s most efficient, innovative and socially responsible sugar company — transforming arid land into engines of growth, employment and renewable energy.
In March 2026, TRSC’s US$285 million investment was announced as a flagship agriculture deal at the Kenya International Investment Conference (KIICO) — placing Tana River at the centre of Kenya’s drive for food security and inclusive, regional growth.
