WANANCHI OPINION: Could macadamia be the new coffee?

Kenyan farmers have long toiled in the coffee fields, nurturing a crop that despite its global fame, often leaves them with empty pockets and uncertain futures. But a new contender is emerging, and its quiet rise may soon reshape Kenya’s agricultural landscape. 

This isn’t another miracle crop but a robust, hard-shelled nut with a surprisingly bright promise. Macadamia, once overlooked, is steadily taking over, offering farmers good earnings, consistent cash flow, and a much-needed sense of control. Could macadamia be the new king of cash crops in Kenya?

A Cost Comparison: Coffee vs. Macadamia In Planting and Production

The journey of coffee from seedling to sale is nothing short of a marathon. Each coffee plant requires rich soil, expensive fertilizers, and continuous care from the start. With the high cost of fertilizers and pesticides, planting coffee isn’t just about patience; it’s about capital—a cost that not every farmer can bear. Even after years of cultivation, coffee remains vulnerable to pests like the coffee berry borer and diseases that can devastate entire harvests if left untreated.

Macadamia, by contrast, tells a different story. The initial investment is modest, with macadamia seedlings costing between Ksh 200-300, making it a more accessible option for farmers without deep pockets. Macadamia trees also have a resilience that coffee lacks.

While occasional pests like the macadamia nut borer may crop up, they’re manageable with low-cost treatments. And once these trees mature, they don’t demand much attention. Unlike coffee, where each cherry must be handpicked at just the right moment, macadamia nuts simply fall when they mature and the remaining ones are manually picked.

The True Cost of Cash Flow: Why Instant Payment Matters.

Macadamia farmers, on the other hand, enjoy instant gratification. Once their nuts are ready, they take them to brokers or firms, where they’re paid on the spot, typically at Ksh 100-200 per kilogram. This direct payment empowers them to pay workers immediately, manage household expenses, and even reinvest in their farms without waiting for a distant payday. This immediate cash flow isn’t just a convenience; for many, it’s a lifeline, allowing them to meet daily needs without resorting to loans.

The story of a struggling coffee farmer, going to bed hungry while waiting for coffee society’s payments, is all too common. By contrast, the macadamia farmer can collect, sell, and buy provisions for the day. This accessibility to funds is redefining what it means to farm sustainably in Kenya.

Macadamia’s Mechanized Edge: Jobs and Efficiency for a New Generation

A unique factor fueling macadamia’s growth is its embrace of mechanization. Processing centers now use machines that peel the tough green husk off macadamia nuts, streamlining the process and creating new job opportunities. For young people in macadamia-growing regions, this mechanization has opened up roles in machine operation, packaging, and logistics.

The impact is far-reaching; these jobs provide the youth with stable income and skills in technology-driven agriculture.

Coffee, in contrast, remains labor-intensive and largely manual. Each bean must be handpicked and processed needing the farmer to hire more workers thus incurring more costs. Coffee also has to be sold the same day it is picked otherwise it will lose its lustre, This difference in processing highlights macadamia’s efficiency and its appeal to a new generation eager for consistent, year-round employment opportunities.

Planting Space.

If you are a casual farmer looking to plant Macadamia for a kind of a side- investment for a few pennies, you can with limited space. You could plant the tree outside your door and the biggest inconvenience, if you could call it one, would be the leaves shedding all over your compound. According to seasoned macadamia farmers, a well-tended mature tree could produce a minimum of 50kgs of macadamia nuts. Even as a casual macadamia farmer with a single tree, you could make up to 5000/= or more with the minimalist attention to the tree.

This is however not the case for coffee. You are either a serious coffee farmer or not one at all. There is no in between if you want to make a semblance of a profit. You cannot plant a single coffee tree outside your door.

You need to have a significant piece of land that could house multiple trees that could justify the long wait and low prices per kilogram. Similarly, after interviewing seasoned coffee farmers, a well tended mature coffee tree could produce up to 10 kilograms of fruit making a farmer up to 1200/= or less depending on the cost incurred in making it a ‘well-tended’ tree.

One more thing to note is that macadamia inter-cropped with other plants. Macadamia trees tower above coffee plants and others say maize for example, when they grow. This makes them very convenient for farmers with small farms.

Seasonal Limitations and Year-Round Benefits.

One of coffee’s greatest challenges is its limited harvesting season. Typically, farmers have only two harvests—the main and minor crop seasons—leaving significant gaps between income periods. During these off-seasons, farmers often have to stretch whatever they’ve earned to make ends meet, a situation that can lead to financial strain and even debt.

Macadamia, however, offers greater flexibility. Even though in Macadamia is still governed by two major seasons, it doesn’t have an ‘off- season’ like coffee or at least a dire one as such. Since harvest times vary based on planting schedules, farmers have the potential to sell their nuts throughout the year. Farmers can collect as little as two – to five kilograms of the nuts and still get paid. In this, they don’t even need capital since it’s a low quantity collected on a possible casual stroll through their farms.

The Future of Kenya’s Cash Crops: Is Coffee’s Reign Over?

The benefits of macadamia are hard to ignore. With its straightforward maintenance, lower costs, faster payouts, and a year-round income potential, it’s no wonder that more farmers are shifting from coffee to macadamia.

The world’s appetite for macadamia nuts, particularly in markets like the U.S. and China, has steadily driven prices up, with Kenyan farmers reaping the rewards. Macadamia is also favored by farmers since the prices are announced and fixed before the harvesting starts.

This enables farmers to plan accordingly or building informed estimation on the possible income. Coffee cooperatives however, don’t extend the same courtesy. Coffee has to be auctioned therefore there is no way a farmer can have a fixed price since it may vary from other seasons.

The irony here is palpable: farmers with coffee on their land, a crop once deemed the “black gold” of Kenya, can go to bed hungry while waiting for cooperative payments. Meanwhile, their neighbors who grow macadamia enjoy a flexible income that allows them to feed their families and reinvest in their farms without stress.

Unless the coffee sector evolves, embracing quicker payments and perhaps introducing mechanization, macadamia may continue to edge it out, crop by crop, field by field.

Kenya’s agricultural future could see coffee become a relic of the past while macadamia steps into the spotlight. With the right support, macadamia might soon be more than a lucrative alternative; it could become Kenya’s new emblem of prosperity, offering farmers the stability, growth, and income they have long been waiting for.