Cashew

With an average estimated cashew export earnings of US$350million per annum, Cashew Watch Ghana (CWG) – a civil society organisation – has said the country has yet to fully take advantage of the US$7billion global market. Cashew Watch Ghana described the current earnings as below potential, emphasising that the country has potential to fetch more than US$660million if government and the private sector capitalise on the current global prospects of the economic tree to promote production, value addition and exports. The country’s cashew export earnings in 2020, which was US$340million, according to CWG, should only be a starting point to…

A new regulation to block foreigners from purchasing cashew nuts directly from the farmgate will soon be enforced to make trading the commodity the sole preserve of Ghanaians, deputy Chief Executive Officer, Operations at the Tree Crop Development Authority (TCDA), Foster Boateng, has revealed. Mr. Boateng disclosed to the B&FT that foreigners will only be able to buy cashew nuts from the farmgate using registered Ghanaian agents when the regulation is finally approved. “The draft guideline by the TCDA has been reviewed by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Legal Affairs, and is supposed to be laid in parliament soon by the…

Summit Vision Microfinance has since 2021 disbursed over US$375,000 in working capital to cashew producers in the Offinso North district of Ghana’s Ashanti Region to increase production. The working capital was disbursed to cashew nursery operators for grafting seedlings, and for smallholder farmers to expand their farms. The financing by Summit Vision Microfinance, according to Offinso North District Chief Executive Asare Bediako, is contributing to the government and district assembly’s strategy of transforming the area into a major cashew production hub, create jobs for youth alleviate poverty and contribute to economic growth. “My district is better-off economically. Most of the…

Taskforces have been formed within cashew farming communities to compel buyers to pay government-approved prices per kilogramme to the cashew farmers. Mr. Solomon Owusu, the Jaman North District Chief Executive (DCE) who announced this, said the essence was to ensure unscrupulous buyers would not cheat the farmers by paying below the GHS 8.50p per kilogramme approved by the Ghana Tree Crop Development Authority (TCDA). The composition of the taskforce comprised personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces, Information Services Department, Ghana Revenue Authority, and Ghana Police Service. Mr. Owusu told the Ghana News Agency in an interview about the challenges confronting cashew farmers, particularly in the area at…