Macadamia farmers are hopeful as the Kenyan government announced the prices of the nuts will rise to Sh100 a kilo in the next two weeks. This is even as senators pushed the government to allow the farmers export their produce and deal directly with outside markets to eliminate cartels and brokers.
Kirinyaga Senator James Murango has been the voice behind the push to permanently lift the ban on export of macadamia nuts to eliminate middlemen exploiting farmers. The Kirinyaga senator has sponsored the Bill seeking to amend section 43 of Agriculture and Food Authority which restricts local farmers from directly exporting the nuts.
“We wrote to the Ministry to open up market for more exporters, and also help the farmers to increase the macadamia prices. We are glad they have done that,” Murango said.
Senator Mundigi, who chaired the session, had expressed concerns on why the Agriculture ministry is not keen on letting the macadamia market to be free to allow for farmers to connect to the outside market directly.
Source: the-star.co.ke
