Turning Macadamia Into a Force for Good
Empowering Farmers. Transforming Livelihoods.
Kenya has over 150,000 macadamia farmers, most of whom are smallholders. Their biggest challenge? Finding reliable markets, especially for nuts that don’t meet the grades traditional processors are looking for.
At The Big Thunder Nuts, we are creating markets for these overlooked grades. We buy undersized macadamia nuts directly from farmers, giving them another market outlet for part of their harvest that might otherwise be hard to sell.
Today, we work with more than 2,000 farmers across Kenya’s macadamia-growing regions. By 2028, we aim to grow this network to 10,000 registered farmers, supported by an AI-powered farmer management system that we are building. The system will help us manage the growing network, improve traceability, strengthen farmer support and track our impact.
We’re also expanding how farmers benefit from the land they already tend:
- Oil pressing — farmers can bring their own macadamia nuts to be pressed for home use, giving households another way to benefit from the crop they grow.
- Beehives — through local partnerships, we are introducing beekeeping alongside macadamia orchards. Bees boost pollination and nut yields, while honey gives farmers an additional income stream between harvests.
Women and youth employment
80% Women and Youth, and We Plan to Grow That Number
At The Big Thunder Nuts, women and youth make up over 80% of our permanent and casual workforce. Most come from the communities around our Thika facility.
And we’re just getting started. As we increase production capacity, we plan to create more direct jobs for women and youth in processing, quality control, and operations, as well as more indirect jobs in sourcing, transport logistics, by-product handling, and farm activities.
Land Restoration
Restoring Kenya’s Land One Macadamia Tree at a Time
The Big Thunder Nuts has partnered with the World Resources Institute to plant 125,000 macadamia seedlings across 625 hectares of degraded land in the Nakuru Bahati area.
The initiative delivers a triple impact: restoring degraded land and improving soil health; creating a future source of income for farming families as the trees mature; and supporting carbon sequestration and climate resilience.
In 2020, we were awarded a World Bank and Government of Kenya contract to supply one million macadamia and avocado seedlings across seven counties in Kenya, one of the largest macadamia seedling distribution programs in Kenya’s history.
Renewable energy impact
Turning Macadamia Shells into Industrial Energy
We turn macadamia shells into biomass fuel for industrial heat and steam generation, giving something that would otherwise be thrown away a useful second life.
We supply food processors, breweries and other industrial buyers across Kenya, providing a locally available source of renewable biomass energy for industrial heat and steam generation.
What Is Next Our Innovation Pipeline
AI Farmer Management System
We are building an AI-powered farmer management system to help grow our farmer network from 2,000 to 10,000 registered farmers by February 2028. It will improve how we manage the network, strengthen traceability, give farmers better support, and track our impact as we grow.
Expansion of Production Capacity
We are exploring the expansion of our processing capacity through an additional macadamia processing facility. The new facility will allow us to process more macadamia, create additional jobs and expand the range of products we can produce.
We are currently seeking strategic partners and grant support to help make this expansion possible.
