China Macadamia Appetite Makes Kenya Coffee Farmers Go Nuts
- Prices for the nuts have more than doubled so far this year
- East African nation is world’s third-biggest macadamia grower
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Kenyan farmers used to grow macadamia trees to shade their coffee bushes. Now they’re making so much from production of the nuts that they’re abandoning the beans.
The East African nation, known for its prized Arabica coffee, is gaining a reputation for its macadamia with production rising to a record last year. Expansion in the world’s third-biggest grower of the crop is being driven by demand from China, according to Nairobi-based agro-processor Nawiri Agribusiness EPZ Ltd.