A Sh300 million macadamia nut processing company is to be built
to improve farmers’ returns.
Nuts Traders Association of Kenya (Nutak) has found a German investor
to fund the construction of the plant, according to
secretary general John Ndirangu.
Ndirangu said on Friday that they will sign an agreement with the investor in July this year and the construction will start early next year.
The plant, to be located in Mbeere, Embu county, will process more than 5,000 metric tonnes of nuts every season.
Ndirangu said the plant will have the capacity to process about half of all macadamia produced in the country.
The Mt Kenya counties of Embu, Kirinyaga, Murang’a, Tharaka Nithi and Meru are the main producers of macadamia nuts in the country.
The factory will save farmers from middlemen who pay them a pittance for the nuts.
Nutak has 2,500 members but plans to register 20,000 by next year.
The association has been fighting to have a ban imposed on exportation of raw nuts repealed to increase competition among processors and boost prices.
The government imposed the ban in 2013 to boost value addition but the farmers complain it has cut links between them and foreign companies.
Local processors are also accused of taking advantage of the ban to lower prices.
Ndirangu also said they were opposed to the decision by some counties to consolidate farmers into saccos, noting that some sectors such as coffee which are managed through cooperative societies had collapsed.
Murang’a and Kirinyaga, he noted, have started registering macadamia farmers into saccos, which his association is opposed to.
“We know it is some cartels in the sector who want to control the sector and ensure they regulate prices and pay farmers as they wish,” he said.
He also denied accusation that the association was behind the upsurge of macadamia production which had reduced the prices of nuts to as low as Sh70 per kilogramme.
The official urged processors to register their agents and expose those who are exploiting farmers. “We are also asking Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) to weed out unregistered brokers,” he added.