On November 21, 2018, sixty macadamia farmers from Nyeri, Embu and Meru filed court cases seeking permission to export unprocessed nuts and sell them in international markets.
The farmers say macadamia is their only source of income and that the crop pays school fees for their children. In an affidavit filed by John Muriithi, they argue that restrictions on raw macadamia exports are hurting their livelihoods and denying them better prices abroad.
According to the petition, the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock, the Agriculture and Food Authority, and the Attorney General are among the main respondents. The farmers want the court to stop the use of section 43 of the Agriculture Fisheries and Food Authority Act to block their business.
Muriithi told the court: “We urgently require to sell our farm produce at better prices in the international markets such as China to enable us pay fees for our children. We have no other source of income since miraa was banned in Europe.”
He also claimed that Chinese investors who had come to Meru used to buy the nuts at Sh300 per kilo before they were “illegally” arrested and extradited by the respondents.
The farmers are asking the court to interpret section 43 of the AFFA Act, 2013, and clarify what counts as “raw macadamia”. They also want orders allowing them to sell macadamia shell overseas, saying the product has more value in foreign markets.
In one of the prayers, Muriithi said the applicants should be allowed “to own and sell their macadamia to the buyer of their choice locally and internationally with or without shell provided that the same is not raw macadamia as stated in law.”
The petition further argues that any ban on exporting macadamia with shell is unconstitutional and that forcing farmers to remove shells against their wishes is unreasonable and violates human dignity.
Tharaka-Nithi county government and the NutProcessors Association of Kenya (Nutpak) have applied to join the case. A ruling on that application was set for November 22, 2018.
The respondents are seeking to strike out the petition, while a separate case in Embu has already been dismissed. The farmers have appealed that decision at the Court of Appeal in Nyeri.
Kenya Revenue Authority and the Council of Governors are listed as interested parties.
