Macadamia farmers in Nyeri County are faced with poor market prices. They claim that local processors are buying their nuts at prices as low as Sh10 and Sh20 per kilogram. This comes after the government lifted the ban on the export of raw macadamia nuts for one year early this month, to open up the market to global buyers.
According to Joseph Maina, who owns over 200 trees, growing macadamia was profitable in the past and with the increased global demand, macadamia was considered the queen of nuts. The farmer added that due to a glut in the market, farmers have been forced to sell their nuts at throw-away prices to local processors since 2015 when the government banned the exportation of raw macadamia nuts.
Samuel Ndiritu a farmer in Tetu constituency said that despite this being a macadamia season, it has been the worst since brokers are rejecting their nuts saying they are not mature and are of low standards.
Source: standardmedia.co.ke