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• The Nairobian
• Mon Apr 21 2025

Agriculture CS Mutahi Kagwe chews a Miraa twig in a farm in Tigania, Meru, on Friday, April 11, 2025. He said the ministry was working to protect local Macadamia and Miraa farmers against exploitation by importers.[Phares Mutembei, Standard]

Miraa farmers in Meru are exploring ways to embrace value addition to boost their income as the crop faces turbulent times amid shifting markets.

Former Nyambene MP Joseph Mutuuria is just one out of a significant population in Meru who have depended on Miraa (khat) incomes for a long time but now reeling from lost markets, inadequate government interventions and hostility from a section of health advocates.

Mr Mutuuria used to earn upwards of Sh500,000 weekly from his vast farm in Nyambene, an area covering six sub-counties and where most of the land has been dedicated to miraa farming.

He says when the European and Somalia export markets were friendly, he earned huge sums from the crop.

Mutuuria said back then an MP's salary was a drop in the ocean compared to what his Miraa farms earned him.

Then the European export market was lost following its ban a decade ago and ever since, Mutuuria, like other farmers and beneficiaries along its value chain, have been suffering lost opportunities.

Though sustained efforts by a National Assembly's Miraa Ad-hoc Committee chaired by former Meru Woman Rep Florence Kajuju led to its recognition as a legal cash crop in 2016, Miraa players such as the influential Nyambene Miraa Farmers and Traders (Nyamita) chaired by Kimathi Munjuri maintain the support for the crop's development has been inadequate.

Mr Munjuri and Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (Kephis) Chairman Joseph Eruaki said value addition is one of the ways of empowering the farmers who have suffered for a decade now.

Stakeholders point fingers at some of the agencies that are an obstacle to value addition of the crop, despite the huge potential that exists.

Among those is the World Health Organisation (WHO), which classified the stimulant crop as a drug with adverse psychological effects.

To make it worse, the National Authority for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse (Nacada) listed the crop as a drug, despite the government recognising it as a scheduled crop, alongside coffee, tea, and other cash crops.

Among products that can be derived from Miraa are juice, energy drinks, gin, whisky, beer, and jelly beans.

Munjuri said the crop is listed in the Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1994, another impediment to value addition.

Despite the obstacles to value addition which farmers like Francis Muthomi say would earn them more income and create job opportunities in processing factories, various researchers and groups have been manufacturing various products from Miraa and Muguka, the latter predominantly found in Embu County.

Mr Eruaki, a former Igembe North MP, said research is needed to pursue value addition.

"We need research so that those things that can be extracted from miraa can be obtained. There should be a way of processing so that we can get various products from miraa in outlets,? he said.

Dr Patrick Kubai, a researcher from Mery University, and Professor Joshua Arimi have produced Miraa and Muguka juice.

The researchers said they aimed to harness all the positive effects of miraa.

Prof Arimi said the miraa juice and muguka energy drink were just two of the numerous products that can be derived from the stimulant crops.

?We have been researching mainly on nutrition and phytochemical composition of miraa and muguka,? said Armi.

He said both are very rich in nutritional value.

?We have developed infusion bags, where you can infuse into tea. We have patented miraa and muguka chew

The potential investors in Miraa processing industries said the main challenge that they face is the Narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances control Act no. 4 of 1994.

They want the hurdle dispensed with to enhance value addition prospects of miraa.

Since 2015, Kevin Nthiga has been processing various products from Miraa but cannot get KEBS certification because of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotrophic Substances Control Act and Nacada listing.

Nthiga, an expert in food science, has been producing the products mainly for displays at trade exhibitions, but he is pleading with the National Assembly to amend the Act that has made value addition impossible.

"I started this work back in 2015. However, the Act stands in the way of any value addition efforts on miraa," he said.

Due to this, he and others who want to pursue the value addition of Miraa cannot get the necessary licenses such as the KEBS standardization mark to begin operations.

He gets an assortment of different varieties of miraa, including the red variety (imiiru), to produce the drinks from Miraa.

"I have a contact person who gathers the different varieties of miraa for me as per my recipe formulation. The person then sends the package to me through a courier services. I can only work on a few kilos of miraa at a time whenever a show or exhibition comes up."

"I am not selling any products currently, and any production I make is either for showcasing or display purposes. The products have attracted a large audience," he said.

Nthiga says the problem of consumption of second-generation alcohol would be reduced if value addition of miraa was made possible.