Nut Traders Association of Kenya (Nutak) chairperson Johnson Kihara during a meeting with macadamia farmers in Kenol, Murang’a, on January 7, 2025 / ALICE WAITHERA
Farmers and traders of macadamia nuts now want the government to allow a percentage of the commodity to be sold unprocessed for higher returns.
The Crops Act, 2013, prohibits the exportation of unprocessed nuts and locks out the expansive Chinese market, lowering demand, they said.
In March last year, Agriculture CS Mutahi Kagwe reinstated the ban that had been temporarily lifted since November 2022, owing to a glut occasioned by global market fluctuations and which led to meagre prices for farmers.
The ban expired in November 2024, sparking debate on whether it should be extended—as farmers and traders pushed for its continuation while nut processors lobbied for its lifting.
Farmers argued the suspension had opened up the market and raised demand, lifting farm gate prices to over Sh100. Conversely, processors said they were accruing losses after investing in heavy machinery and were being forced to lay off workers.
Nut Traders Association of Kenya (Nutak) chairperson Johnson Kihara said a meeting held with the CS early last year saw the ban reinstated, despite assurances that the government would ensure an amicable solution was achieved.
“Kagwe assured us that a win-win situation would be brought about and announced that a committee with the membership of farmers, traders and processors would be formed only to later announce the reinstatement of the ban,” Kihara said.
He noted that traders who had unsold stocks in their stores underwent heavy losses after Kagwe’s pronouncement and that five containers with over 27 tonnes of unprocessed nuts were then held at the Mombasa Port, where they went bad.
Kihara said the Chinese market is still untapped and holds huge potential, calling for the government to partially lift the ban to enable access to a larger international market.
Currently, processed macadamia nuts are exported to the United States and European Union, which Kihara said exposes farmers to price fluctuations when the two markets become unstable.
The economic shocks caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, he explained, saw most consumers cut their consumption, leading to heavy losses for farmers.
Kihara urged the government to consider allowing 40 per cent of exported nuts to be unprocessed, saying it will open up the market and boost cash flow in macadamia farming zones while creating more jobs.
“When the ban was lifted for one year in 2023, macadamia farm gate prices shot up to Sh240 per kilogramme at one point because it raised the demand. Currently, some buyers are paying a meagre Sh40 per kilogramme,” he said.
He sought the attention of President William Ruto, saying the ministry together with the Agriculture and Food Authority have been unable to resolve the challenges facing the sector.
Muriithi Ngichabi, a representative of the Macadamia Growers Association of Kenya, said the crop is currently not beneficial to farmers.
He said 65 per cent of the macadamia market is for unprocessed nuts, with only 35 per cent for processed ones.
Processors, he noted, buy their produce and delay payment, with some companies disappearing with their money as many sell without receipts.
Ngichabi also pointed an accusing finger at AFA for failing to streamline the sector and allowing rogue buyers to continue purchasing, even after a harvesting ban was imposed last month.
“We held a meeting as stakeholders and agreed to put a self-imposed harvesting ban to allow the nuts to mature, but buyers are still going to farms and buying.”
On Tuesday, an aggregator was found with a seven-tonne truck full of the nuts at Ithe Kahuno in Nyeri.
Ngichabi said AFA should follow up and punish processors facilitating the illegal harvesting.
“If not, let them lift the ban so we can all sell the nuts because they are now being sold in secrecy like drugs,” he said.
The harvesting ban was imposed early last month and is set to be lifted in February.
He echoed calls for a meeting between farmers and the President, saying the sector that supports over 200,000 households directly and millions more indirectly is facing a bleak future.
Poor returns have discouraged youths from the sector, he added, leaving their elderly parents to tend to the farms.
“When we are no longer there, what will happen to the sector?” he asked, challenging AFA to organise training on crop husbandry and storage to improve production.
Statistics from AFA place the total annual production of raw nuts in shell (unprocessed) for macadamia at 49,819 tonnes in 2024, up from 44,364 tonnes in 2023, with farm gate prices rising from Sh2.662 billion to Sh4.95 billion.
Instant Analysis
In March last year, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe reinstated the ban that had been temporarily lifted for a year in November 2023 owing to a glut occasioned by global market fluctuations and which led to meager prices for farmers. Traders who had unsold stocks in their stores underwent heavy losses after Kagwe’s pronouncement and five containers with over 27 metric tonnes of unprocessed nuts were then held at the Mombasa port where they went bad.