The Ministry of Agriculture has banned macadamia harvesting until March 1, 2025, to curb the export of immature nuts.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Andrew Karanja said the ban, which takes effect from November 2, 2024, was reached after consultations with industry stakeholders.
He said the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) has been tasked with the strict enforcement of compliance with the directive, including revoking licenses of violators.
“The Authority will also increase inspections and surveillance to eliminate unscrupulous business dealers,” the CS said.
Karanja said Kenyan macadamia industry is heavily export-oriented, with approximately 95 per cent of its annual production shipped to international markets.
“In 2019, farm gate prices for macadamia nuts in shell (NIS) peaked at an all-time high of Sh180 per kilogram. However, by early 2023, prices had dropped significantly to Sh30- Sh40 per kg,” Karanja said.
To address this, the CS said the ministry, under Section 43 of the AFA Act 2013, lifted the ban on raw macadamia exports providing a one-year export window effective November 3, 2023.
The CS said this remedial measure was aimed at stabilising prices and help farmers manage excess stock impacted by global market conditions.
“A rapid industry assessment shows many local companies lack quality stocks for processing. It highlighted the harvesting, processing and export of immature nuts has led to poor performance of the Kenyan macadamia in the global markets,” he said.
Karanja said exporting processed macadamia nuts (kernels) is more beneficial to Kenya than exporting raw in-shell nuts. He said to facilitate the ban, dealers must submit their current stock for inspection, verification and clearance by November 15, 2024.
“A minimum guaranteed farm gate price of at least Sh100 per kilogram will be implemented,” the CS said.
“The national and county governments will continue working together to enforce the provisions of the Crops Act, 2013, and the Crops (Nuts and Oil Crops) Regulations, 2020,” Karanja said.
Macadamia farmers have called for a review of the law to reduce the powers of the Agriculture CS on exporting raw nuts and other oil crops.
The farmers also called for stringent laws inhibiting raw export of the crop and the creation of the price control board to regulate the macadamia nuts export market.
Speaking during the meeting to collect and collate views on the laws governing the crop, farmers said the board would eliminate cartels blamed for poor farm gate prices.