Cashew stakeholders meet on pre-market season

Stakeholders from the cashew sector and sub-sector have convened a meeting on cashew pre-market season.

The meeting was held to share information and discuss issues that normally characterize the cashew marketing such as product prices, quality, quantity, delivery methods, and times among others.

Addressing the gathering, Kebba Jasseh, CEP project manager, described the meeting as timely given that preparations are currently warming up for the upcoming cashew nut collection and marketing season.

“Our overall goal is the growth of the cashew sub-sector and this can only be achieved and sustained when all stakeholders realize fair returns from their investment,” he said.

According to him, cashew has now assumed a greater economic role in the livelihoods of many farmers and other stakeholders, pointing out that production, processing and exports of cashew nuts have increased significantly within the past ten years and that by all indications, the trend is expected to expand even more in the coming years.

He also recalled that in 2001, production of raw cashew nuts were estimated at 150 metric tonnes which grew to 8000 metric tonnes in 2010.

“Almost ten cashew nut buyers and exporters are here in The Gambia; we currently have three small scale nut processing units, with several new and bigger factories being planned,” Jasseh said.

According to him, more land is being planted with cashew as more farmers realize the potential contribution of cashew from getting them out of perennial poverty.

He continued: “We have The Gambia river basin cashew value chain enhancement project supported by the United States Department of Agriculture which is being coordinated from here.”

Jasseh further reiterated that The Gambia government’s recognition and promotion of cashew as a cash crop has increased as evidenced in the various speeches of the president, during the last Meet The People tour and the distribution of cashew seed thereafter.

Also speaking on behalf of the cashew farmer organizations in The Gambia, Mr Setti Suwareh alluded that cashew was introduced into the Gambia mainly as a forestry crop and planted along the perimeter of orchards to serve as fence posts and wind breakers.

He further explained that this has changed over the years, and that cashew is now among the main cash crops in the sub region including Guinea Bissau, Senegal and The Gambia, adding that production is on the increase as more land is put under production replacing other crops.

He however lamented that the cashew market system in The Gambia is not properly organized, with challenges remaining in the quality control area.

Suwareh also added that price fluctuation is a concern to all cashew farmers, noting that middlemen do offer various prices with significant margins.

Speaking further, he noted that negotiations are ongoing among producers to establish a National Federation of Cashew Farmers Association (NAFECFA) to promote the development of a vibrant cashew industry and have a mutual pricing arrangement with dealers and processors in order to promote fair trade in the industry.

(http://today.gm/hi/news/3120.html)