Macadamia farmers and traders have decried huge losses occasioned by extended ban on exportation of in-shell nuts.
The farmers argued after the government reinstated the ban on exportation of un-processed macadamia on January 2nd this year, they have incurred huge losses since their nuts are rotting in their farms and stores.
During a meeting held between the farmers and the traders in Murang’a Saturday, they argued that the government has not addressed their plight despite writing several letters to the agriculture Cabinet Secretary (CS) seeking for extension of exportation on in-shell nuts for one year.
Ban on exportation of unprocessed nuts was lifted on November 2, 2023 by former CS Mithika Linturi and expired on November 2nd last year after which former CS Andrew Karanja then extended the period to January 2nd this year.
Nuts Traders Association of Kenya (NUTRAK) chairman Johnson Kihara said delay by the government to address the farmers’ grievance has caused huge losses since many farmers have stocks of macadamia at their homes.
Kihara noted traders have also big stock saying they have not been given exportation certificate by Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA)
“I have three containers of nuts in my stores yet the government has refused to issue export certificates. If I can’t sell them, then I also can’t buy macadamia from farmers. It’s the farmers who lose,” he noted.
The chairman further revealed that Lenana Processors, a member of NUTRAK, has 15 containers of stock while Edenswin Traders Ltd has five unsold containers while Topnut Mac and Commodities has 12.
“With one container estimated to be worth Sh. 20 million, the traders are facing huge losses as operations in their companies are almost grinding to a halt,” he remarked.
A section of players in the macadamia sub sector have been agitating for the removal of section 43 of AFA Act that prohibits exportation of raw nuts and oil crops.
They claim that the law only benefits large-scale nut processors who have the capacity to acquire high-cost processing machines.
“Setting up a macadamia processing machinery requires close to Sh. 500 million. How many investors in our country can afford this amount of money and yet there are international buyers willing to buy our in-shell nuts at lucrative prices,” posed the chairman.
On February 6, AFA announced that it will be intensifying its crackdown in the sector saying it had received reports from stakeholders indicating that there has been a rise in malpractices.
The malpractices included harvesting and processing of immature nuts, unauthorized trading of nuts by unlicensed individuals, smuggling of in-shell nuts out of the country and improper discharge of rejected low quality nuts where they are mixed with higher quality nuts and sold to unsuspecting buyers.
Peter Maina, a Director at Topnut Mac and Commodities company said the crackdown is against a court order issued by the high court in November last year by Justice Lawrence Mugambi.
This followed a suit filed by a trader, Eric Mwirigi, challenging a ministerial order dated October 22 that suspended the harvesting of macadamia from November 2 up to March 1 to avoid the harvesting of immature nuts.
“Pending the hearing and the application, a conservatory order is hereby issued suspending the implementation of the ministerial order issued by the Cabinet Secretary, and/or in any other way interfering with the proprietary rights of macadamia farmers,” read the orders.
Maina further claimed that AFA failed to include them during a public participation process that installed Macadamia Nut Processors Association (MACNUT) as the sole exporters of macadamia nuts.
He added that the public participation conducted in September last year was done in private hotels and failed to include all stakeholders.
One of the farmers Murithi Gichabi said if urgent measures are not taken, the sector may be crippled by the challenges it’s facing, leaving farmers with meager payments.
He noted that 65 percent of all nuts sold in the country are in-shell and that only 35 percent are sold as kernels.
“We call upon the Ministry of Agriculture and AFA to convene a stakeholders’ forum to enable us to iron out challenges rocking macadamia sectors. Farmers have invested hugely in the crop and now leaving them to sell their nuts at a throw away price is disheartening,” Gichabi appealed.
By Bernard Munyao