Kenyan macadamia farmers have been cautioned to expect poor prices this year, owing to fluctuations in the global market. Johnson Kihara, chairperson of the Kihara Nut Traders Association of Kenya (Nutrak) cited the Russian-Ukraine war and fluctuation of the dollar as some of the reasons that the produce may fetch reduced prices. According to Kihara, the crop has also been affected by the surge of Covid-19 infections in China, one of the largest consumers of macadamia.
He noted that leading processors from the country recently attended an annual macadamia buyers meeting in the US where they were informed of the impending nosedive in prices. Last year, the crop fetched between Sh90 and Sh120 per kilo (€0.67-0.89), with farmers raking in more than Sh4 billion.
This raised farmers’ expectations that the nuts would withstand the fluctuations of the global market this year and do even better.
Source: the-star.co.ke