Tanzania: Processing plants set to revitalize cashew farming

The Cashewnut Board of Tanzania (CBT) in collaboration with cashewnut stakeholders are planning to construct three new processing plants in the southern regions to cut the loss that the country incurs for exporting raw cashew.

Most of the Tanzanian raw cashew crop that accounts to about 90 per cent is exported to other countries including India as raw crop, and only a small portion of less than 10 per cent is processed internally.

This was unveiled in Dar es Salaam yesterday by the CBT Branch Manager, Tunduru District, Ruvuma Region, Ms Theofora Nyoni, at the ongoing Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) taking place at Sabasaba grounds along Kilwa road.

“The CBT is deeply concerned and currently seeking out a way that will help cut back the loss for which farmers and the nation is incurring by exporting raw cashew,” she said.

She said by exporting raw cashew, the government is losing much needed revenues and employment opportunities which could be created in the factories and other taxes and fees.

In a bid to promote local consumption, Ms Nyoni said the CBT has embarked on promoting ‘cashew nut day’ that takes place during the Sabasaba exhibitions where people are given free cashew nuts to taste.

She said most of the large scale cashew firms are export processors, with only a few that are both processors and traders. The total installed cashew nut processing capacities for the large firms in Tanzania in 2012 was about 94,000 tonnes per season.

The country had earlier about 12 factories for processing nuts but in the 1990s all were privatised to rescue the market of raw nuts produced. Mr Nyoni said production has been on the increase with the exception of last year where it dropped to 127,000 tonnes from 158,000 tonnes produced in the year 2011/12.

This year again, production is expected to shoot up due to abundant rains that showered the giant producing southern regions. Other statistics indicate that the country used to produce over 20 per cent of global cashew in the 1970s, peaking at 145,000 tonnes in 1974, but then in 1980s collapsed to some three per cent before regaining to 158,000 tonnes in 2012.