Farmers Urge Duty Free China Market

Macadamia farmers and traders have appealed to Agriculture CS Mutahi Kagwe to consider suspending the law prohibiting the exportation of raw nuts to save farmers from imminent losses.

The farmers say the law allows only processors to export the nuts, mainly to Western countries, while excluding Asian markets that prefer raw nuts.

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Nut Traders Association of Kenya (Nutak) chairperson Johnson Kihara said although the law is aimed at encouraging value addition, it has placed farmers at a disadvantage by limiting the market and reducing demand.

The traders were among stakeholders who met the CS in February last year to discuss issues facing the sector, but they say the solutions deliberated at the meeting have not reprieved the sector.

“The CS later said he had found a market in the US. He went on a trip to the country accompanied by the chairlady of the Macadamia Association of Kenya (Macnut),” Kihara said.

Macnut is the association of nut processors who export value-added nuts.

Liberalising the market, Kihara said, would allow processors to export processed nuts while traders export a percentage of raw nuts, enabling farmers to earn better returns.

However, he said Section 43 of the Crops Act 2013, which bans the exportation of raw nuts, has thrown the sector into disarray and left farmers counting losses.

Kihara said this is because processors are unable to buy all the nuts produced by farmers due to slow uptake in their export markets.

“I would like to tell the CS that the market they said they secured in the US has not reached the farmer. About eight nut trading companies have now shut down. Farmers have macadamia nuts piled up at home,” he said.

He said aggregators are stuck with stock in their stores and that nut prices may fall further in the coming weeks.

Kihara said repealing the section of the Act would reprieve many farmers, as it would provide a market for surplus nuts while still allowing processors to export value-added products.

“If the market is low in the West, there is still a market in China. Doing away with the law will make it possible for farmers to sell their macadamia directly from the farm,” he said.

He urged the government to take advantage of a trade agreement between Kenya and China that will allow local agricultural products to be exported duty-free to the Asian country starting May 1, 2026.

CS Kagwe made the announcement during a meeting with Chinese Ambassador Guo Haiyan and business representatives last week.

Previously, tea and coffee attracted tariffs of between six and 15 per cent, while nuts such as macadamia faced tariffs of about 10 to 15 per cent.

In 2025, fresh and frozen avocado exports to China, as well as macadamia nuts, reached Sh2.58 billion ($19.9 million).

“If macadamia was part of the discussions he was having, he should reassure farmers not to panic but to wait until May when the Chinese market will open. But currently, no information is coming from the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) or the ministry,” Kihara said.

Kenya is the third-largest macadamia producer globally, contributing about 20 per cent of global supply.

The sector supports between 200,000 and 500,000 smallholder farmers, mainly in the Mt Kenya, Eastern and Rift Valley regions.

In 2024, the country produced 51,200 tonnes worth about Sh4.95 billion, with about 11,090 acres under the crop.

However, the sector has been grappling with fluctuating prices, which rose to Sh180 per kilo in farm-gate prices in 2023 when the ban on raw nut exports was temporarily suspended. Many farmers now report prices ranging between Sh50 and Sh80 per kilo.