It is a big win for
Muguka farmers after a Bill seeking to deny it State protection and support was
dropped following intervention by Deputy President Kithure Kindiki.
The DP on Wednesday
met and convinced the sponsor of Crops Act (Amendment) Bill 2025, Kilifi North
MP Owen Baya, to abandon the intention to remove it from the list of scheduled
crops under the law.
“The sponsor has
graciously agreed to drop the piece of legislation that was already in the
First Reading in the National Assembly. We have been looking for a solution to
this matter because we do not want to destroy this value chain which is quite
critical to our economy,” Prof. Kindiki said.
The Deputy President
spoke on Wednesday when he opened the first National Macadamia Conference at
the University of Embu grounds, Embu County.
Before gracing the
event, he held consultations with Baya, also National Assembly Majority
Whip, at the Official Residence in Karen, Nairobi.
On Tuesday, the DP
also met with leaders from Embu, including Governor Cecily Mbarire and elected
lawmakers, as he sought a solution to the Muguka impasse that has been
threatening the economic stability of dozens of counties, among them Emb,u
relying on its sale and proceeds.
“The leaders from
Embu have persistently sought for a solution to this issue. The Governor,
Senator, MPs, Woman Representative and MCAs and other leaders have always
sought an intervention to save farmers,” he stated.
Leaders from the
coastal counties have been agitating for the delisting of the crop, citing
adverse effects on consumers. Some governors in the region banned its sale last
year, attracting protests from farmers in the Mt Kenya region.
At the same time, the
government is fully enforcing the ban on exportation of raw nut-in-shell
macadamia to curb exploitation of farmers as it seeks to significantly improve
earnings.
The Deputy President
reiterated the government’s interest in streamlining the sector, which remains
largely untapped but full of immense potential.
Kindiki said
there will be no compromise in the implementation of the ban, urging the Agriculture
and Food Authority to strictly enforce it.
“The government
will strictly enforce the ban on the exportation of raw nuts in shell macadamia.
This is because we want value addition done on macadamia nuts, which increases
their prices tenfold, thus increasing the returns to farmers,” DP
stated.
The ban aims to expand
processing of the nuts locally, including value additio,n which is key in
attracting more buyers
“We will be extra
vigilant. We cannot allow farmers to be exploited. We will not allow our
precious macadamia to be exported at throw-away prices,” he added.
The conference held at
the Embu University Grounds, themed ‘Empowering Kenya’s Macadamia Industry
through collaborations for enhanced value and sustainability’, brought together
farmers, experts, government agencies, private sector organizations, traders, and both the national and local leadership as part of sustained policy actions to
streamline the agricultural sector.
The event echoed Kenya
Kwanza Administration’s Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda, which lays a
framework for the achievement of the Guaranteed Minimum Returns (GMR) for
farmers in various agricultural sectors across the country.
Notably, Kenya is one
of the top producers of Macadamia nuts in the world, with national production of
raw nut in Shell (RNI) last year standing at 49,183 Metric Tonnes, which is
nearly 20 per cent of the global demand.
In recent years, there
has been a marked improvement in production with a 10.9 per cent increase from 2023
production of 44,364 Metric Tonnes.
The County of Embu is a towering giant in
macadamia farming and is the 3rd highest producer of macadamia nuts in the
country, with farmers from the area producing 5,813 Metric Tonnes in 2024.
In
the same year, Meru County led production with an output of 9,931 Metric
Tonnes, followed closely by Murang’a with 9,756 Metric Tonnes.