Kenyan farmers can now breathe a sigh of relief after the government temporarily lifted the ban on export of raw macadamia nuts which has been in place since 2015 to offer the growers better prices.
According to Moses Kuria, Cabinet Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industrialization, the ban will be lifted for one year to open up the market to global buyers, a move that will see growers fetch more from their produce.
“We are lifting the ban on the exportation of raw macadamia nuts for one year to bring into the country other buyers from all over the world. This will open the markets for competitiveness allowing farmers to sell to the highest buyers,” said Kuria yesterday during the official opening of “Embu Mega Business Expo” in Embu Town, Embu County.
Section 43 of the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) Act prohibited the exportation of raw nuts. The Act stated that; “A person shall not export raw cashew nuts, pyrethrum, bixa, macadamia or any other agricultural product as may be prescribed, except with the written authority of the Cabinet secretary.”
The regulation was aimed at empowering local processors, creating jobs and improving farmers’ earnings.
Consequently, the ban has occasioned a dip in prices to Ksh20 a kilo down from Ksh150-200 a year ago.
In fact, processors have been buying the nuts from farmers at a throwaway price with a kilogramme fetching as low as between Ksh20-Sh50 compared to Ksh200 a few years back since the State imposed the ban.
Macadamia growers last year earned Sh4 billion from owning to increased production, according to the Nuts Traders Association of Kenya.
Kenya has over 20 licensed processors with a capacity of 80,000 tonnes.
There are approximately 6,000 macadamia farmers in the country, with the majority coming from the Mount Kenya region.
Macadamia production in Kenya
Kenya’s macadamia production increased rapidly during the last decade, from around 11,000 tonnes nut-in-shell (NIS) production in 2009 to 42,500 tonnes in 2018.
The country is currently the third top macadamia producer, with a global market share of 13 percent (7,750 tonnes on kernel basis making it making it one of the most lucrative cash crops in Kenya after tea.
Increased small-scale production of macadamia nuts in Kenya has won global recognition that saw the country host the 9th International Macadamia Symposium a year ago.
