Farmers in Nyeri are unhappy after the restriction of the harvesting of macadamia to between November and February by Agricultural Food Authority.
The farmers from Mount Kenya region complain that the ban will subject them to huge losses saying their macadamia are ready for harvest.
They observed that the ban issued in October 2018 will deny them lucrative ready market from Chinese buyers.
The AFA issued a ban prohibiting farmers from harvesting their macadamia between November 30 and February 15, saying by then the nuts will be immature.
The authority in the circular issued to macadamia farmers and dealers stated that harvesting of immature nuts leads to poor quality of macadamia meant for export. The farmers on the other hand have accused the authority of being used by local processors who want to buy their nuts at meager pay.
Speaking to KNA on Monday, they said the authority should stop intruding into domains of county governments, as they appeal to governors, parliamentarians, senators and MCAs to come to their rescue. Led by Erick Mwirigi, Peter Njamba and Annie Wangechi, the farmers decried the conduct of AFA enforcement team of arresting them and disregarding the presence of county governments in nut growing areas.They argued that the ban had adversely affected them, as they accused the regulator of working to protect a few processors, who fear being locked out of the market while there are on holiday.