Macadamia dealers seek fresh deadline on raw nut shipment

Macadamia dealers want an export deadline extension after delays left thousands of tonnes unshipped. [File, Standard]

Macadamia dealers want the period to export tonnes of macadamia nuts from farmers and processing companies extended following the expiry of the three-month deadline that lapsed on October 10.

Farmers, dealer associations and other stakeholders said the initial period only allowed shipping of just a fraction of the in-shell nuts to the markets.

The export regulation was imposed by the Agriculture Food Authority (AFA) following a national validation exercise by the Ministry of Agriculture and AFA, which approved exportation of 14,000 tonnes of in-shell nuts and further invited the processors to apply for the export licenses.

Reports show that by October 10, only 12 out of the 35 nut processors had managed to ship out 700 tonnes of in-shell nuts out of the 14,000 metric tonnes approved.

Owing to the delayed shipment blamed on the uncoordinated regulations, some of the nut dealers in China and Russia cancelled the contract agreements awarded to Kenya’s processors and shifted to Malawi and South Africa.

The Nut Traders Association of Kenya (NUTAK) Chairman, Johnson Kihara, said that farmers have suffered as the regulations imposed have slowed the shipping process.

Kihara said the association has lodged several requests seeking an extension of the in-shell export period, without getting a response from the relevant authorities.

“We are in a crisis again as we have the nuts maturing across various parts of the country in the coming month, yet the backlog from the previous harvest has not been shipped to the available destinations,” said Kihara.

Top Nut Mac and Commodities Limited Director Maina Kiumi expressed frustration with the regulatory body owing to the failure to extend the period after he only shipped two trial containers to the China market upon receipt of the export license early last month.

The company, he said, was allocated 400 metric tonnes of raw nuts until the allocated quantity is fully utilised after the expiry date on October 10.

Maina says he got his export permit on August 13, with a directive to run for three months, but after October 10 it was declared invalid, thus holding his tonnes of shell nuts under siege without an export option.

“Many dealers are at loggerheads with the regulator over ignoring the clause that allowed them to proceed until they complete the shipment after the deadline.

 Peter Karanja, a nut farmer, says the government maliciously allocated the inshell export for three months as it imposed regulations that saw the teams moving from factory to factory for the alleged validation process.

“Can AFA list down the processors who were issued export licenses but failed to transact any business?” said Karanja.

 Mary Wambui, a farmer in Embu, pleaded with the government to allow the export of shells that have expanded markets in East Asia.

“There are those in the value addition business who should be allocated 60 per cent of the volume produced and the in-shell market to handle the rest,” said Wambui.

Last month, AFA acting Director General Calistus Kundu said only a fraction of the dealers had managed to utilise the period between July and September to export the commodity to their desired markets.

He defended the audit and inspection of the warehouses before the issuance of the export licenses.

“Only the macadamia processors and exporters who meet the stipulated and approved standard operating procedures were considered in the export of the inshell nuts,” he said.