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REVENUE:  Macadamia nut processors are urging the government to reinstate a ban on direct export of raw produce, even as macadamia farmers threaten to march to Ukulima House if the ban is not lifted completely by November.

According to the Nuts Traders Association of Kenya, since the ban was lifted, macadamia exports have fetched Sh8 billion with over 60,000 tonnes exported annually, though only 40,000 tonnes are recorded by the government.

Farmers argue that restrictions on raw macadamia nuts have given the local processors an unfair advantage to buy the nuts at paltry prices.

The chairperson Johnson Kihara said the suspension of the ban allowed other processors to buy and export the produce, stabilising the sector.

“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,” he said.

Ban suspension

However, another lobby claimed that the country has lost revenue amounting to over $50 million (Sh6.4 billion) in the last year from macadamia nuts exports as a result of the ban suspension.

The suspension of the ban has affected the macadamia nut processing adversely, displacing the sector from number two globally to number four, Jane Maigua, chairperson of the MACNUT Association, the lobby representing the processors said.

“Our local macadamia nut processing industry is on the brink of collapse due to the direct export of raw unprocessed nuts to China. We are losing our competitive edge on the global market, and the livelihoods of thousands of Kenyans are at stake,” she stated. Maigua explained that Kenya has lost $20 million (Sh2.5 billion) from exported as raw unprocessed nut in shell.

“The other $30 million (Sh3.8 billion) is from post-harvest losses which also means loss of income to the government (taxes) due to the decline in local processing and exports,” she said.

Maigua also stated that lift of the ban has seen 5,000 workers lose their jobs in the first half of 2024, with projections indicating that more than 10,000 workers could lose their jobs by the end of the year and a further 20,000 by June next year.

The association argued that the direct export of raw, unprocessed macadamia nuts has created an uneven playing field for local processors who offer higher prices to local farmers, which as a result, local processors have reported losses exceeding 50 per cent in the last year, with many forced to close or face debt collectors.

In 2009, the government instituted the ban on exports of raw macadamia nuts to create job opportunities and promote the sector, but the then Trade cabinet secretary, Moses Kuria, later last year temporarily lifted the ban in the aim of offering macadamia farmers better prices for their products.

“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,” he said.

This was after macadamia farmers cried out to the government; after they suffered losses that saw them sell the nuts for as low as Sh10 per kilogramme. –Vanessa Sandra