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2007 Activities & News

Crunch time for African cashews: Growing the local market

Cashew processing at ACASEN in Senegal

Leading cashew processors and exporters in India and Vietnam are bolstered by a strong local market, where nuts are a regular part of the diet, and the husks and skin of the cashew kernel are used in paint and brake-oil industries. But in Africa, source of a third of the world’s cashews, local consumption is low, providing little incentive to process the nuts closer to home.

A new survey, Cashew Retail Market Study by WATH/Accra and the African Cashew Alliance (ACA) showcases opportunities for growing the regional market in 10 West African countries.

Distinguish quality of raw cashews

RONGEAD, an European NGO in partnership with an Ivorian NGO, 'Institut Africain pour le Développement économique et social-Centre Africain de Formation' (INADES Formation) has published a Quality nut poster 281.96 Kb on how to distinguish the quality of raw cashew nuts. This poster is part of their efforts in supporting local cashew processing and raw nut improvement in Ivory Coast.
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National Cashew Conference in Nigeria

Nigeria has a processing capacity of 24,400 MT of raw nuts per year - 30% of its annual production of raw nuts. This is unique in the West African region, where processing capacity is generally a maximum of 5-10% of domestic production. However, only half of Nigeria's processing capacity is utilized: 14,000 MT is processed currently, leaving 14,400 MT of capacity idle. This situation could be improved with better access to capital, technical assistance and links to international kernel buyers. Also, the raw nuts face a discount on the international market because of relatively lower outturn and a poor reputation. More than 200 participants gathered July 10-11 for the Nigeria National Cashew Conference to discuss how to improve processing and the price of Nigeria's nuts on the world market.

Training on Raw Nut Quality in Senegal

Cashew Apples Training Senegal Improvement of raw nut quality and consistency in Africa is one important way to increase value of the crop and improve farmer income. Following recommendations at the recent national cashew meeting in Senegal in February, the USAID Economic Growth (USAID-EG) program, in collaboration with cashew nut exporter Senecomex, launched a raw nut quality improvement training in 4 different cashew producing regions in Casamance and Sokone. The training was done by Mr. Ram Mohan, Mr. Amrith Kurien and Mr. Suresh Govindan all working for Senecomex/ComAfrique.

International Nut and Dried Fruit Convention May 10 - 12 in Madrid, Spain

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The Annual INC Convention (http://www.nutfruit.org/) that took place in Madrid, Spain this year, gathered organizations working in nuts and or dried fruits from all over the world.

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