Sasini blames China buyers for disrupting macadamia supplies

Macadamia

A man holding macadamia nuts.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

Agriculture firm Sasini has accused Chinese macadamia importers of buying immature nuts from farmers after the government lifted restrictions on raw nut exports last year, starving local processors of quality supplies.

The claims by Sasini highlight the differing opinions between macadamia processors and farmers over the export moratorium, which was in place for 12 months from November 3, 2023, and which was extended by a month upon expiry.

The Agriculture ministry had allowed the export of raw nuts, known as nut-in-shell (NIS), after farmers complained of a glut, which drove farm gate prices down from a high of Sh180 per kilogramme to Sh30, with local processors unable to take up all the stock due to reduced demand for processed kernel in key export markets such as the US.

By lifting the restriction on exports, the government hoped to open new markets for the farmers to reduce the stock held in stores.

Section 43 of the AFA Act of 2013 prohibits the export of raw macadamia, except with the written approval of the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary.

“The opening of the one-year window by the government of Kenya to allow farmers to export NIS saw an influx of Chinese buyers of NIS in the early part of the season (October 2023 to January 2024) mopping up almost all the NIS available in the fields at the time,” said Sasini in its annual report covering the year ended September 2024.

“This had two negative effects, one being that the NIS was being picked with low maturity levels, and secondly denying the market the much needed mature NIS to process later on in the season (March to May 2024). This, combined with the fact that the destination markets were very soft, meant that 2024 was a very painful year for macadamia nuts.”

The company added that it was forced to close its nut processing factory from January 2024 due to the low supply of raw nuts, and also because of the collapse in demand in the US had seen prices fall to an unsustainable level of $4 (Sh517) per kilogramme of kernel.

In addition to the resumption of the export ban, the government also barred harvesting of macadamia nuts between November 2024 and March 2025 to curb exports of immature nuts.

The harvest ban is the subject of a petition at the High Court by a farmer from Embu, who argues that macadamia farmers risk losses if their mature nuts are left unharvested for the period the ban is in effect.

As per the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) Economic survey report of 2024, Kenya had a total of 8,826 hectares under macadamia production in 2023, producing 44,400 tonnes which earned producers Sh2.66 billion.

In 2022, production stood at 40,900 tonnes, fetching Sh2.79 billion due to higher prevailing prices in the period.

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