Macadamia farmers threaten protest over raw nuts export ban

Macadamia farmers from the Mt Kenya region have appealed to the government to review the Agriculture and Food Authority Act to allow the exportation of raw nuts.

The farmers who met at Sagana in Kirinyaga county on Saturday, said section 43 of the Act that restricts them from selling unprocessed nuts, has adversely affected the sector. 

They said it’s giving an unfair advantage to a few processors who collude to buy nuts at meagre prices.

In November last year, the then Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi temporarily suspended the law for one year up to November this year.

This followed an outcry from farmers who suffered immense losses that saw them selling the nuts for as low as Sh10 per kilogramme while others hawked them on the streets.

The losses were attributed to fluctuating global market that was grappling with the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war, and fluctuation of the dollar among others.

Farmers approached the CS to consider lifting the ban to give them some reprieve.

Linturi heeded to their cries but gave local processors the condition of buying the nuts at a minimum of Sh100 per kilogramme.

Nuts Traders Association of Kenya chairperson Johnson Kihara said the suspension of the ban gave other processors the opportunity to buy and export the produce that stabilised the sector.

Kihara wondered why the government has been hesitant to do away with the law despite the huge impact it has on farmers and their consistent cries over the years.

“A law can only be good if it serves Kenyans. This law does not serve us as Kenyans. As long as it is there, we will continue being at the mercy of a few processors. By November, let them prepare, we will be coming to their offices in droves if they won’t review the law.”

Kihara said should the government not lift the ban by the time the suspension expires, macadamia farmers will march to Ukulima house to protest.

The crop, he added, has the potential to earn farmers up to Sh200 per kg saying that farmers from countries such as Rwanda are fetching such high prices.

“If other countries can do it, why are we still getting poor prices? This seems to be a deliberate plan by government officials in cahoots with large processors,” he said.

He wondered why the government doesn’t treat the macadamia crop with the seriousness that it accords other sectors yet it rakes in huge revenue.

Since the ban was lifted, Kihara said macadamia exports have fetched Sh8 billion with over 60,000 tonnes exported annually, though only 40,000 tonnes are recorded by the government.

The association’s secretary general John Ndirangu urged the government to consider imposing harvesting seasons.

This he said, will prevent the harvesting of immature nuts that soil the local produce’s market.

Ndirangu said although the law was put in place to encourage value addition, its counterproductive as it has subjected farmers to meagre earnings for over a decade.

Charity Nyawira, a farmer, said local legislators have let them down as they have failed to help them push for a review of the law.

“We’re challenging both MPs and senators to come together and ensure this law is changed so we can earn from our hard work. This law is a disadvantage to us as small scale farmers,” she said.

John Njiru, the association’s deputy chairperson, said they want the crop to be included in those being streamlined by deputy president Rigathi Gachagua.

Further, he said macadamia farmers want to benefit from subsidies accorded to other farmers to help them up their production.

Njiru said should the government fail to lift the ban, prices could fall to as low as Sh50 and wondered why similar laws don’t control other agriculture sectors.

“Why did they only impose this law on nuts? Our sector has been neglected as the government implements strategies to strengthen others. It’s time for us to go to the streets.”

by ALICE WAITHERA