Kenya loses Ksh.2.88 billion of macadamia harvest to pests: CS Kagwe warns

Speaking during a high-level meeting with sector leaders, the CS was informed that farmers are suffering unprecedented losses due to adverse climate change and invasive pests which damage flowering nuts, bore through shells, weaken leaves, and cause widespread premature nut drop.

According to Jane Maigua, Chair of the Macadamia Association of Kenya (MACNUT), Kenya produces approximately 45,000 metric tonnes of macadamia nuts annually, with 44,100 tonnes classified as marketable. 

However, 17,640 tonnes are lost to insect damage, including more than 2,200 tonnes of high-value exportable kernels.

The losses, she said, amount to an economic hit of Ksh.2.88 billion each year. She added that processors face additional costs due to the increased labour and electricity needed to sort out insect-damaged nuts.

According to KEPHIS, stink bugs pose the biggest threat, followed by nut borers, lace bugs, moths, rats and thrips.

The agency explained that stink bugs cause severe internal kernel damage, nut borers feed inside the shells, and lace bugs attack leaves, causing yellowing and leaf drop. 

Moths damage nuts before hardening, leading to early falls, while rising temperatures have increased thrip infestations that damage flowers and reduce nut formation. Rats remain a major vertebrate pest across plantations.

KEPHIS warned that climate change is also intensifying pest attacks and reducing the effectiveness of chemical pesticides. 

In response, the Pest Control Products Board (PCPB) outlined emergency provisions in law that allow rapid approval of organic and pyrethrum-based pesticides. 

The Board said that once Pyrethrum Processing Company of Kenya Ltd (PPCK) and Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS) confirm specific pest pressure, it can fast-track emergency-use products, run local efficacy trials, determine correct application rates, and support counties in sensitizing farmers on safe use.

PCPB CEO Fredrick Muchiri assured the CS that pyrethrum-based products would be prioritized as long as they meet safety and performance standards, stressing the need to reduce reliance on imported pesticides, which now exceed 20 million kilograms annually.

CS Kagwe directed AFA, KEPHIS, PCPB and county governments to intensify farmer awareness campaigns through radio and field extension services, expand pest management training and support pest control solutions that protect Kenya's export markets. 

 He also emphasized the need to revive the domestic pyrethrum value chain to give farmers access to locally produced, affordable, and safer pest control alternatives.

The CS further issued strict instructions to safeguard PPCK's intellectual property, warning that private firms using PPCK’s scientific formulation data must pay for access or lose their approval. 

" In my opinion what you should have done, and this company would be very rich, is for them (private firms) to access this data, are they paying something? How do you give free things? If it is not in law, we do it and pass it in Parliament. Both in Kenyan and other global companies. We need to think outside the box," Kagwe stated. 

"All the discussions we've heard, you come with exchequer requests I'll tell you for free, you'll not get any money from exchequer."

He noted that PPCK’s scientific data is a national asset and a key revenue opportunity that must be protected as Kenya scales up its homegrown pesticide solutions.