Macadamia farmers in Embu and Kirinyaga Counties have been forced to spend night in the cold to guard their macadamia from thieves who harvesting them before they are ripe. Farmers have been forced to sleep in shifts in the farms, some armed with bows and arrows to protect their nuts.
James Murithi Mithaara Eastern Region Coordinator Macadamia Biashara says that the invasion of the macadamia by thugs at night is putting the 2 billion industry at risk of being banned at the international market.
The industry also faces the risk of its nuts being rejected in the international market because of low quality.
Mithaara says that the country has been dethroned from position one at the international market to position five after the nuts were said to be of poor quality.
The market for the macadamia nuts is yet to open, as the nuts are not yet ripe enough to harvest and will open from the 28th of February. Some farmers have however resorted to harvesting the nuts that are still unripe.
The harvest of immature nuts has led the market stagnating to the level where farmers are not getting the right price as the alleged thieves sell the nuts for as little as ksh.10 per kilo.
The Macadamia Biashara regional coordinator has called on the government and Non Governmental organizations to set the price of macadamia at a minimum of Ksh. 50 ($0.58 USD) to salvage the situation.
Murithi says that Macadamia Biashara project is out to protect the farmers from middle men who are taking advantage of them.
