Tola Faseru, president of the African Cashew Alliance (ACA) has identified low-value addition, inadequate finance and skills among others as challenges that have continued to limit the growth of the African cashew industry.
Faseru made this known during the fourth ordinary session of the Consultative International Cashew Council (CICC) held in Cameroon recently.
According to him, Africa still processes less than 10 percent of its cashew nuts despite being the largest producer of the commodity.
He noted that despite the supply chain obstruction caused by the pandemic, the industry was able to show resilience owing to increased global demand, particularly from the US, Europe and Middle East countries.
“Our processing factories in Africa are still challenged with issues of inadequate access to finance, lack of processing equipment, technical knowledge and skills, storage systems among others. Statistically, Africa processes less than 10 percent of its production,” he said.
Speaking on what ACA is doing to address some of these challenges in the industry; he said the association prides itself as the knowledge hub and that its objectives resonate with that of the CICC.
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“We have developed diverse learning and information sharing platforms for cashew stakeholders. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we moved most activities online and predominately have two of such being held every month.”
Faseru said that next year, ACA will introduce the ACA Quarterly Policy Roundtable (QPR) that the purpose of the forum is to develop sustainable and inclusive policies for the African cashew industry by offering an opportunity to improve the literature and strategic plan of cashew stakeholders through cashew industry information.
“Through this forum, we will address issues around price mechanism, value chain analysis and sustainability, capacity building and access to finance.
“Also, there is the ACA Annual Conference held every September in cashew producing countries. The ACA conference continues to be a great place to learn and network in the cashew business world. It also allows stakeholders to promote their brand, products, and services.”
