How Sh60 propelled labourer to successful macadamia farmer

Michael Kariuki, a macadamia farmer and an Embu MCA waters and tends macadamia seedlings at his farm in Mutunduri, Embu County on February 12, 2016. He has 3,700 stems of macadamia trees that produce 16 tonnes of nuts annually, a factory for drying the nuts and a nursery with 10,000 seedlings. BY JOSEPH MUCHIRI/STANDARD

Twenty years ago, he was a poorly paid casual labourer toiling in people’s farms near Manyatta market, Embu County.

Aged 20 then, his future did not offer much promise – not until he decided to invest his Sh60 savings to venture into macadamia trading and farming.

Thanks to his determination and hard work, today Michael Kariuki is a multi-millionaire farmer and businessman with investments in food processing and real estate, in addition to being a ward representative.

With 3,700 stems of macadamia trees that produce 16 tonnes of nuts annually, a factory to dry the nuts and a nursery with 10,000 seedlings, Kariuki is one of the most successful macadamia farmers in Embu County.

Popularly known as Osama, Kariuki is also the MCA for Nginda Ngandori ward. In Embu, the mention of his name resonates with issues facing the macadamia sector.

His journey to being a top macadamia farmer is, however, riddled with insurmountable hurdles and he feels his determination and help from God enabled him succeed.

On February 1, Kariuki led angry macadamia farmers to storm the Embu police station, demanding answers on why the police selectively released one of the lorries impounded transporting macadamia outside the allowed time of between 6am and 6pm.

Kariuki was arrested and locked up in the cells for hours and was only released when former Cooperatives minister Njeru Ndwiga intervened.

Kariuki’s temporary incarceration was just one of the many hurdles he has faced in his quest to help macadamia farmers in Embu maximise their returns.

When Smart Harvest visited him last weekend, we found him supervising work on his 15-acre farm in Mutira area near Nembure, Embu West.

His main varieties are Murang’a 20, Embu 1, Kiambu 3 and Kirinyaga 15. Kariuki’s knowledge on the intricacies in macadamia farming is sound, gained through his many years as a farmer.

He says the average production for a macadamia tree between the ages of five to six years is 40 to 50kgs. That between eight and 10 years, it is 80 to 100 years while a tree that is over 10 years old can produce 150kgs.

With a tinge of nostalgia interwoven with a warm smile, Kariuki says he started macadamia farming in 1996. Then, there was only a single processor in the country, the Kenya Nuts Company. “In my area, farmers had to dry their nuts for two weeks before delivering them to the factory. Due to delays in payments, traders would buy from farmers then deliver to factories as most farmers opted for instant money to meet their various needs,” he says.

While on his way to sell his father’s produce, Kariuki bought two tins of macadamia using his Sh60 savings.

Each tin, weighing 3kgs, fetched him Sh33 per kilo and Sh138 in profits. It is then that he decided to trade in macadamia and tried his hand in planting them on his father’s farm.

Inadequate capital

He devised a way of making good returns from the venture. For every kilo, he paid farmers Sh3 as commission and Sh30 upon delivering the produce to the factory. His profits rose to Sh300 a day. But inadequate capital made him partner with an established trader.

“We worked together from 1997 to 2007. I was more of an employee than a partner. I saved money and even bought a plot of land,” he says.

When the partnership was dissolved, he had saved Sh150,000 which he used to expand his macadamia trading business.

He says farmers preferred to deal with him because of his honesty, an attribute he says made him who he is today. A Chinese trader approached him in 1998 with a deal to work together. “I bought macadamia using all my savings of Sh300,000 which I sold to the Chinese trader. After five months, I had received my money back and made a profit of Sh1 million,” he says.

Kariuki then bought a pick-up truck and embarked on buying and delivering macadamia to the same Chinese. By the end of the second season, he had made a profit of Sh3.3 million.

After another year, his business had improved considerably and he bought a canter lorry, three parcels of land and later, another lorry.

Expert advice

It is then that he decided to become a serious macadamia farmer, planting 1,000 seedlings in his various farms which he keeps increasing, seeking expert opinion from the Kenya Agricultural Research and Livestock Organisation on how to graft the indigenous macadamia to the desired variety.

To get parent seedlings, he mixes soil with sand to help the nuts break easily and then plants them in a polythene bag containing soil mixed with manure.

Kariuki has more than 10,000 seedlings currently on his farm. He sells a seedling at Sh350.

“This is profitable because only one nut is involved, especially if you compare with selling a kilo of macadamia nuts at Sh100,” he says.

His good returns have enabled him set up a factory where other farmers dry their nuts. The factory has the capacity to dry 320 tonnes of macadamia in a month and is located near Mutunduri market.

Kariuki’s initiative helped the price rise marginally. Upon further research, he realised he would not achieve much for the macadamia farmer unless he changed existing legislation.

“That is how I ended up vying for the Ruguru-Ngandori seat. Farmers campaigned for me because they loved my dealings with them and my agitation for better prices for their produce,” he says.

Kariuki plans to take his farming to another level and become a macadamia processor since he “no longer has energy to wake up at middle of night to move all over buying nuts”.

He reckons the processing factory would create hundreds of employment opportunities in addition to the tens of workers he has currently employed.