Nigeria rallies its Cashew Potential for the ACA World Cashew Festival

As it prepares to host the 2013 ACA World Cashew Festival & Expo, Nigeria is positioning itself to reap the full impact of the cashew business.

“Nigeria has all the possibilities to become one of the next cashew-superpowers”, stated National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) President Tola Faseru, also  an ACA Executive Committee Member, at the second National Cashew Stakeholder Forum in Lagos, Nigeria from 30-31 January, 2013. The conference, was attended by more than 200 cashew farmers, processors and traders, including ACA President Georgette Taraf and MD Christian Dahm. The aim of the forum was to develop an Action Plan for the Nigerian cashew industry with a focus on improving quality, promoting cashew processing and growing the cashew crop.

Participants at the 2nd National Cashew stakeholders Forum in Lagos. From L to R: Tola Faseru, President, NCAN, Tonye Cole, MD Sahara Group, Emmanuel Ijewere, Chairman, CASON, Sotonye Anga, Publicity Secretary, NCAN.

The Nigerian government has adopted cashew as a ‘transformational crop’ and as a result is dedicating large resources to its promotion and development. The Hon Dr Akinwumi Adesina, Minister of Agriculture of Nigeria, announced the government’s new position on cashew and stated that Nigeria sees it beneficial to support the cashew business. Citing a USAID study on the multiplier effect of the cashew business, the Nigerian government emphasized the value of the crop as a potential poverty-reducer, by adding local value and growing agricultural exports from Nigeria. Available data from the study suggest that Nigeria could generate more than $15 million in additional income for rural communities and create more than 12,000 new jobs if it processed 50% of its crop in-country.

The excitement surrounding cashew in Nigeria made Lagos a clear choice as the location of this year’s ACA World Cashew Festival & Expo, scheduled for the 16-19 September. The Nigerian government was informed when the ACA President Georgette Taraf, NCAN President and ACA EC Member Tola Faseru, ACA MD Christian Dahm and NCAN PR Officer Anga Sotonye called on the Nigerian Minister of State for Agriculture, Hon. Bukar Tijani. He assured the delegation of the Ministry’s support for the conference and again stressed the importance of the event for harnessing the sector’s potential.

 On 31 January 2013, NCAN and ACA held the inaugurating meeting of the local organizing committee (LOC) consisting of cashew traders, processors and officials from the Ministry of Trade and Investment, the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria.  

In a bid to make this year’s ACA conference one of the best in recent years, preparations are already underway.  Speaking from the annual national flag off for the cashew season in Kogi State, Nigeria, head of the LOC, Anga Sotonye said “We are making so much progress. National interest is high and there is so much excitement in the air!”

The flag off event was attended by more that 500 participants including the governor of Kogi State, who also expressed his support and willingness to be part of the cashew festival.

Mr. Sotonye touched on the issue of security in Lagos. “The venue is set –it is very safe and we already have security plans in place,” he said. Mr. Sotonye confirmed that the LOC were making the necessary arrangements and noted that the Nigerian government has also promised additional security.

On the ACA side, Conference coordinator Miriam Gyamfi says “The Nigerians have been very forth-coming with support and organization. The LOC is excited and already things are shaping up really nicely”.

With Cashew Adopted as ‘Transformational Crop’ and playing host to potentially the largest cashew festival in the world in the works, Nigeria should expect 2013 to be a landmark year for its cashew industry.