The Chief Executive of Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA), William Agyapong Quaittoo, has revealed that the government has committed to invest $60 million in the cashew sector, including processing,
He said the government had approved a $100 million loan from the World Bank, with about $60 million out of that amount expected to be invested in the sector.
Aside from that 70 per cent of the $60 million will be invested in building several factories in the cashew catchment areas.
“Government has allowed Tree Crops Development Authority to take a World Bank loan of $100 million, out of which $ 60 million will be invested in cashew. Also, 70 per cent of the $60 million will be invested in cashew processing.
“The feasibility study is being done and soon we will see the establishment of various cashew factories in catchment areas such the Bono, Bono-East, Savannah and Oti regions and other places. It spans about eight regions,” he said.
William Agyapong Quaittoo went on to state that Ghana currently processed only 10 per cent of its produced cashew nuts and, therefore, intended to increase cashew processing from 10 per cent to 50 per cent by the end of the sixth year.
He was speaking at the 6th Consultative International Cashew Council (CICC) conference held at Kempinski Hotel in Accra on Saturday, April 20, 2024.
It was on the theme: “Projecting the cashew sector through local consumption, value addition, and job creation”.
Accoridng to him, Ghana’s cashew production had increased by about 30,000 metric tonnes per year since 2020, which was a positive sign for the sector’s growth.
“Two or three years ago, we were around 170,000 metric tonnes, 200,000 metric tonnes, and 230,000 metric tonnes from 2020 to 2022. “We have distributed free seedlings to farmers; about four million cashew trees have been distributed to farmers. This effort is yielding result and we have to continue with it so that production will increase,” he said.
The conference brought together ministers of Agriculture, and Trade and Industries from 12 African countries forming the CICC to deliberate and adopt mechanisms to make Africa dominate the cashew sector in the global market.
Other attendees were experts and researchers in the agric and trade sectors.
Some of the participating countries were Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso, and Mozambique that was officially accepted as a new member at the conference.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
