Agriculture Cabinet Secretary, Mutahi Kagwe, has warned local macadamia processors that the government could consider lifting the ban on raw macadamia exports if they fail to absorb all produce from local farmers.
Kagwe said that the Government’s decision to impose the ban was intended to ensure that the country benefits more from the produce by promoting local value addition and maximizing returns.
He, however, said that the government will have no choice but to rescind the ban if local processors under the Macadamia Nut Association (MACNUT) fail to purchase all available macadamia stocks from farmers.
“What we are saying to the processors is that they need to organize themselves to take up all the macadamia that is there in the country and at the price that we had agreed of a minimum of Sh 100 per kilogram. In the event that they do not have the capacity to process the macadamia that has been grown around the country then I will be consulting with them and if that is the case we will systematically and in an organised manner allow for raw macadamia exports,” said Kagwe.
Last year, the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) banned the export of raw macadamia nuts in shell and unprocessed nuts whether wet or dry.
The directive also banned the export or transit of raw macadamia nuts through Kenya, irrespective of their origin with exporters from other countries being advised to seek alternative ports and avoid channeling raw macadamia through the country.
According to AFA’s Director General, Dr Bruno Linyiru, the move was aimed at safeguarding the local nut processing industry and promoting value addition within the country.
“This measure aims to support local farmers and processors by promoting domestic value addition through local processing and industrial development,” the DG emphasized in a statement.
In his remarks during the first National Macadamia Conference 2025 in Embu, Deputy President Prof. Kithure Kindiki said that the government will not back down on the ban and urged AFA to ensure its full enforcement and adherence. He said the government will not sit back and watch as farmers get exploited through the exportation of nuts at a throwaway price.
He maintained that the ban will help streamline the sector that largely remains untapped yet full of immense potential, noting that the sanction would boost local processing, which he said is key in attracting more markets and buyers.
“We want value addition done on macadamia nuts before exportation, which will increase prices in the market and also return to farmers,” said the DP.
The leading macadamia-producing counties in Kenya include Embu, Meru, Kiambu, Tharaka Nithi, Murang’a, Kirinyaga and Nyeri.
Other counties that have promising potential are Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia, and Machakos County.
Data from AFA Kenya’s macadamia production in 2024 stood at 49,183 Metric Tonnes, a 4,819 Metric tonnes increase from the 44,364 Metric Tonnes that were produced in 2023.
A report from the Authority shows that during the year under review macadamia prices saw a significant improvement rising by 68.9 per cent from Sh 58 per kilogram to Sh 98 per kilogram. As a result of the higher farm gate prices the total value of the Nuts in Shell(NIS)at the farm gate rose from Sh 2.66 billion in 2023 to Sh 4.95 billion in 2024.
The CS who spoke in Tetu in Nyeri County blamed brokers and middlemen in the sector for creating a perception that there is an oversupply of macadamia in the market. He further blamed the middlemen for exploiting farmers by distorting market prices and exploiting farmers by buying the nuts at low farm-gate prices and reselling them at higher rates.
“It is not that we have more macadamia; it is only that the market is disguised by the broker activities that are going on in the country. These individuals are buying from vulnerable farmers at very low prices of Sh 30, aggravating them, and selling it at Sh 100,” noted the CS.
To counter the exploitation, Kagwe asked macadamia farmers to organize themselves into cooperative societies, which he said will strengthen their bargaining power, adding that through the societies they can secure stable prices for their produce and improve their returns.
“I have proposed that the macadamia farmers get together to form cooperative societies and cooperatives that can sell together. You form a cartel the way that oil producers and coffee producers have their own cartels. That is the way to go if you want to increase the prices even beyond what you have set,” he said.
By Wangari Mwangi
