Macadamia farmers in
Kenya are currently producing just about 42,000 tonnes of in-shell nuts,
according to the Nut Processors Association of Kenya (NutPAK). This constitutes
only 20% of the global supply.
However, there is a
remarkable growth in the production volumes, something that has earned Kenya recognition
and the chance to host the 9th International Macadamia Symposium in August 2021.
This event which
brings together major industry players from all over the world is held after
every 2 years. During the last even that was held in 2019, the symposium’s message
to all macadamia nuts producing countries was to scale up production in order
to meet the growing demand in the world market.
Small scale
farmers play an important role in production
In Kenya, the majority of macadamia
nuts are produced by small scale farmers mainly in Embu, Muranga, Meru and
other parts of central. The country currently has over 200,000 small scale
producers of the nuts.
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| A well done macadamia tree plantation |
The production capacity of these
farmers is still very low and does not even meet the local demand. While we had
only 4 macadamia nut processors in Kenya in the year 2009, we now have 30 such
established factories.
According to NutPAK, the processors in
the country currently have the capacity to process 90,000 tonnes of in-shell
nuts. That means they are forced to operate at only 50% of their capacity due
to lack of supplies.
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Increasing macadamia nut production in Kenya
In an effort to fill this supply gap,
several organizations have come up to support the small scale farmers of
macadamia. For example, the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) is planning to
supply at least 3 million macadamia seedlings to small scale farmers in the
country.
The areas targeted by this effort are
those that have traditionally not been producing the nuts but have conducive climate
for their growth. These include Uasin Gishu, Taita Taveta, Elgeyo Marakwet and
Nandi Counties.
Deshelled macadamia nuts have great
demand
Kenyan macadamia are mainly exported to
China, Europe and America. Since the year 2009 when the government banned the
export of in-shell nuts, the country has been processing all its produce and
before taking it to the market. China is a major importer of the Kenyan nuts
with an ever increasing demand.
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The demand for the macadamia nuts has
been increasing a lot over the past years, according to Marco Russo, managing
director of Macadamia Brazil, a company that exports both in-shell and
deshelled nuts from Brazil. “There is currently more demand than production,
but it is difficult to quickly increase the volumes for the macadamias in order
to meet this increasing demand. The macadamia trees take up to eight years to
mature and reach optimum production, so it is really a long-term investment.”
The price for in-shell macadamia nuts
hit Ksh200 a kilo last harvesting season and this has encouraged more farmers
to take care of the trees they have an plant more in order to increase
production. AFA projects that with proper support, macadamia production in Kenya
will reach 61,000 tonnes in the next 5 years.
With the projected future of the crop, macadamia farming is a great way to invest for your future. If you would like to invest in it and you need support, call or email us any time through the contact us page.
With the projected future of the crop, macadamia farming is a great way to invest for your future. If you would like to invest in it and you need support, call or email us any time through the contact us page.
