Cashew farmers in Mpeketoni, Witu and Faza in Lamu County are worried about total collapse in the cashew industry if nothing is done about the 2009 ban on exports.
Speaking to the Business Daily in Mpeketoni on Sunday, Lamu West MP Julius Ndegwa, who was a large scale cashew nut farmer and transporter, said many famers were demoralised due to lack of a market for their produce.
Mr Ndegwa said he was worried that if the ban is not lifted, cashew nut farming will become a thing of the past.
"In Mpeketoni for example, our farmers have begun uprooting the cashew trees while others have ceased to plant more. We no longer see the benefit of the plant,” said Mr Ndegwa."
“Enough is enough. We have been exploited and it is high time that the government lifts the ban. Some of the cashew nut dealers have gone to the extent of conning us. They take our produce promising to pay us at a later date and by the end of the day, they vanish,” said Mr Ngugi.
