KENYA lifts ban on raw macadamia exports
Kenya has temporarily lifted the ban on export of raw macadamia nuts which has been in place since 2015 to offer growers better prices.
Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria said the ban will be lifted for one year to open up the market to global buyers, a move that will see growers fetch more from their produce.
Processors have been buying the nuts from farmers at a throwaway price with a kilogramme fetching as low as between Sh20-Sh50 compared to Sh200 a few years back since the State imposed the ban.
“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,” said Mr Kuria yesterday.
Section 43 of the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) Act prohibited the exportation of raw nuts. The Act stated that; “A person shall not export raw cashew nuts, pyrethrum, bixa, macadamia or any other agricultural product as may be prescribed, except with the written authority of the Cabinet secretary.”
The regulation was aimed at empowering local processors, creating jobs and improving farmers’ earnings.
Macadamia growers last year earned Sh4 billion from owning to increased production, the Nuts Traders Association of Kenya says.
Kenya has over 20 licensed processors with a capacity of 80,000 tonnes.
There are approximately 6,000 macadamia farmers in the country, with the majority coming from the Mount Kenya region.
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