The Rise of Macadamia Production in KZN

The macadamia industry is making inroads into what have traditionally been sugar cane areas. From Malelane in Mpumalanga to Pongola in KwaZulu-Natal, cane is being replaced by nuts as farmers hope to capitalise on better returns from the market. Is this the boon they have been waiting for? Lindi Botha reports.

- By Lindi Botha

FAST FACTS

Pongola is one of the fastest-growing areas for macadamia nut production in South Africa.

Sugar cane farmers are planting macadamias rather than re-establishing their cane.

As global nut volumes grow, more sophisticated marketing is required to maintain sustainability.

The macadamia industry has offered highly attractive investment opportunities during the past few years. With prices increasing significantly and an apparently insatiable demand, the crop has provided good returns for farmers in the Lowveld of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, and on KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) South Coast. Now, as uncertainty about the continued profitability of the sugar industry prevails, farmers further north in KZN are expanding their farms to include nut orchards.

Boosting the prospects for this industry is the ever-growing number of processing facilities for macadamias in Pongola, northern KZN. The investment from industry role players is perhaps the biggest indication of the potential of macadamias in this region.

AmberMacs has a facility where nuts can be delivered and then sent to Mpumalanga for further processing. Marquis Macadamias has gone one step further, erecting a full nut in-shell processing facility in the area.