International Conference in Vietnam - Africa Cashew Development

The Managing Director, Roger Brou attended a 2-day cashew workshop, from the 28^th-29^th of November, dedicated to Africa-Vietnam cashew trading.  The workshop was organized by Vietnam Cashew Association VINACAS and attracted a variety of Vietnamese cashew stakeholders along with Government representatives. Representatives from the National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), the Beninese cashew traders association (CONEC), ARECA of Cote d’Ivoire and The Producers and Traders Associations from Guinea Bissau represented the African Cashew industry. The parties discussed the need of the Vietnamese processing industry to source about 250,000 MT of RCN from Africa for the up-coming season, and also addressed challenges regarding quality and payment terms issues.

According to the Vietnam Cashew Association (VINACAS), the cashew plantation area fell from nearly 440,000 hectares in 2007 to 360,000 hectares in 2013. Vietnam now ranks third in the world for cashew production, shifting down one spot since 2012.  It is expected that the country will drop to the fourth position in the coming months, following India, the Ivory Coast and Brazil.. Nguyen Duc Thanh, VINACAS' chairman states that the unstable price of cashew nuts and low productivity prompted many farmers to replace their cashew trees with other industrial ones.

Although many farmers produce a high-yield cashew, the cultivation areas of this type of cashew remain small compared to the total cashew cultivation area, Mr. Duc Thanh recognized. He commented further, stating that "most of the cashew cultivation areas have not received proper caring techniques, and offered low yields.” Vietnam annually imports about 500,000 tons of raw cashews from other countries, 300,000 tons of which is sourced from West Africa - Cote d’Ivoire (48%) Ghana (16.2%) Nigeria (14%) Guinea Bissau (8.63%) and Benin (3%)[i]

At the conference in Ho Chi Min City, many African RCN buyers called on Vietnamese firms to invest in cashew production in Vietnam. They state that as processing increases in Africa, there will be less and less RCN available to export to Vietnam. A representative of the Nigerian National Cashew Association (NCAN), Mr. Tola Faseru, said "Nigeria appreciated more than 50% of total world exports of cashew kernels from Vietnam and we are open to companies that cooperate in Vietnam to invest in export processing industry to take advantage of opportunities exports to the European market.”

Vietnam expects to export about 250,000 tons of cashew nut this year for a value of US$1.55 billion. Including the exports of cashew kernel oil, export revenue could top more than $1.8 billion. [ii]