I cracked my first million from macadamia nuts

John Kahiu’s farm in Thandii village, Tetu district, Nyeri County stands out for its attention to detail, order and blooming crops.

Kahiu, 65, is a perfectionist. In his two-and-a-half acre farm, not a weed stands in the neat garden. The green trees dotting the farm packed with nuts are macadamia trees which are almost ready for harvest.

Despite growing other crops, macadamia is Kahiu’s main venture and he is making a tidy amount.

“I got my first million shilling from these nuts. This venture has turned out to be my most reliable pension,” says Kahiu whose farm supports seven dependants.

So how did he land himself in this venture?

The former driver at the Ministry of Agriculture says he fell in love with macadamia while he was based in neighbouring Murang’a County in the 1990s.

He says he was also inspired to venture into macadamia growing by Equity Bank chairman Peter Munga when he once shared a meal with him in Murang’a in 1992.

“Mr Munga told me during a chit chat that those who want to make good money in Nyeri and Murang’a in future should invest in macadamia. Being a seasoned investor, I believed him. After that encounter, I went and did my research and jumped ship beginning of 1993,” he recalls.

To roll out, he bought 200 seeds at a local agrovet and planted them by inter-cropping them in his coffee farm. Things went so well, by 1997, he was selling his first nuts. Macadamia take three to four years to mature. His first customers were his neighbours and since the nuts were yummy, word went round fast and his clientele increased. Within no time, bigger orders started to stream in. Slowly, he expanded his farm to 350 trees with his main tree producing over 300 kilos of nuts in a year. He is client base includes Juggle Nuts Ltd and other local supermarkets.

So what is the secret?

“I never use any chemicals in my farm. I use natural methods to limit the chemicals in my crops. That is why I produce high quality nuts,” he tells Smart Harvest.

He sells at least 1,000 seedlings annually to an ever growing market of new farmers.

Another plus for him is that he uses vegetative propagation, a technology he learnt at Murang’a Prison. This technology he says, enables him to upgrade his trees by grafting a shoot of the all season variety into a mature tree to convert it into a breed that produces high quality nuts all year round.

He ties a plastic container filled with soil on a branch and cuts off the shoot once it develops roots.

His yield

In 2005, Kahiu produced 5,000 kilos of nuts — his highest ever. But an aphid disease that makes trees lose potential to produce by shedding flowers saw his production drop to 4,000 nuts in recent years.

His yearly earning from macadamia is Sh1 million – a tidy sum he has never made from any of his crops like tea or coffee. This season, his balance sheets shows that he produced 2,007 kilos of organic nuts which he sold at Sh160 a kilo earning him approximately Sh320,000.

It gets juicer because the macadamia peak production season is between March and June meaning the harvesting season is just beginning. Because he has upgraded a significant proportion of his trees to all season producers, it means he will continue harvesting up to November. Other than selling the mature nuts, Kahiu also produces 3,000 seedlings in a nursery next to his compound. He sells a seedling at Sh200.

Though he has achieved a lot, it has not always been easy.

Kahiu’s niece, Susan Wangui, remembers with nostalgia how fellow villagers reacted when Kahiu started the project.

“People made fun of him and some even mocked him. They said he would regret it. But I am happy that this has turned out to be my uncles’ goose that lays the golden... well, nuts,” said Wangui.

Other than macadamia, Kahiu also has 1,000 coffee trees.

Another big challenge with macadamia is fluctuation of prices, which are largely dependent on international supply and demand dynamics. The other headache is aphid infestation.

‘Poaching’ of immature nuts by unscrupulous traders is also a big letdown.

The farmer believes the government has not adequately protected the industry from such traders.