The Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, has commended the African Cashew Alliance (ACA) for promoting the production of cashew in the country, citing the progress made in export as one of the association’s achievements.
Adebayo made this known during a visit of the President of ACA, Babatola Faseru, and his team to the minister’s office, stating that the effort of the association has promoted Nigeria to become second in the world after Vietnam when it comes to cashew export.
Faseru on his own noted that the cashew industry serves as the main source of income for over 1.8 million households in West Africa, and provides direct and indirect jobs to over three million people in Africa, especially women.
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The ACA president hinted that in order to compete globally, there is a need to address the issue of infrastructure and that adopting the best technology for shell and apple processing is critical.
He added that the question of how important supply chain linkages are from processors worldwide to growers of cashews should be addressed, while pointing out that there is a need for diversification of shell processing, the biggest waste and major concern in cashew processing.
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Faseru disclosed how the association has helped provide solutions to challenges in the cashew industry and promised to continue to engage stakeholders across sectors, including government and policymakers, to achieve the goals of promoting the cashew industry in Nigeria and Africa.
“We are proud that through our annual conferences and many other learning events and services, we are creating the right platforms and conditions for partnerships, advocacy, market linkages, global networking, and providing the needed technical support for accelerating growth and investments in the African cashew industry.”
