Export ban hits macadamia farmers
Kirinyaga Senator Kamau Murango at a macadamia factory in Thika, Kiambu County on March 8, 2025.
What you need to know:
- In September 2024, the government said it would extend the export window for six months.
- Kirinyaga Senator James Murango, a macadamia producer, says he is stuck with tonnes of harvest.
When the government lifted the ban on selling raw (in-shell) macadamia in November 2023, farmers reaped big.
The farm gate price for kilogramme of macadamia shot from Sh20 to Sh100, with more than 1,000 tonnes of raw nuts exported in just two months.
Thousands of farmers now stare at a bleak future after the government backtracked on its promise to extend the suspension of section 43 of the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) Act, 2013, which prohibits selling of unprocessed nuts.
In September 2024, the government said it would extend the export window for six months, starting on November 3, 2024 but limited the period to 30 days.
The situation has left farmers, aggregators and processors stuck with unprocessed nuts running into millions of kilogrammes.
Kirinyaga Senator James Murango, himself a macadamia producer, says he is stuck with tonnes of harvest as the ban means aggregators and processors are no longer buying the nuts.
The lawmaker says the farm gate price has fallen from Sh150 a kilogramme to Sh70, with middlemen making money, as the remaining produce rots on farms.
“Farmers are suffering because they have no one to sell their nuts to. Those buying macadamia offer very little. It is a case of ‘take-it-or-leave’. Why should you tell farmers to produce macadamia and traders to buy when you will not allow them to sell abroad?” the senator asks.
“Why aren’t there such restrictions on maize, coffee and tea? Why should the government insist on macadamia farmers adding value to their nuts? That is not happening with the other crops.”
A visit by the Seeds of Gold journalists to an aggregator in Thika, Kiambu County, painted a grim picture. There were more than 400 tonnes of macadamia nuts at the dryer.
A manager said the company has been receiving nuts but the export ban has hit the market hard.
“We have not bought nuts from farmers for the last two months as were are stuck with what we already have,” said the manager who sought anonymity, saying she may be victimised by Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development officials.
“We had 1,000 workers but have had to scale the number to 40. Even the ones remaining have been told to stop working because we don’t know if or when the ban will be lifted.”
The manager added that the company had been exporting at least 500,000 kilos of the nut to China per month before the ban.
“Our greatest fear is the nuts losing quality due to loss of moisture,” the manager told the Seeds of Gold.
She added that the company cannot risk processing the nuts because the machines are expensive and out of reach for most of the local traders or farmers’ cooperatives.
“One machine costs at least Sh1 billion. Only wealthy cartels can afford such a processor. It appears the government is working with middlemen posing as macadamia processors. They have no capacity to process macadamia,” she says.
Senator Murango criticises Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe “for making boardroom decisions”.
“The minister should get out of the office and go to farmers on the ground. Those in the boardroom do not know the challenges facing farmers. Why are farmers being forced to sell to particular entities?” he asks.
According to the lawmaker, Kenya risks losing the biggest macadamia in-shell market – China – if the ban is not lifted.
The senator adds that the government should at least provide a quota system where 40 per cent of the nuts can be exported and the remaining left to local processors.
“It is only in Kenya where we have a problem with exporting in-shell macadamia. China is waiting, but for how long? The cartels posing as processors want to see farmers suffer,” he says.
comulo@ke.nationmedia.com