Christian Dahm's Departure – An Exclusive In-Depth Interview with ACA’s Outgoing Managing Director

ACA: The Conference has become really important to ACA and is now a source of income for the organization.  How do you explain this growth?

CD: Africa is growing into the most important cashew industry worldwide and the conference is both symptom and cause of this phenomenon. Participants’ evaluations consistently show that networking is the most appreciated feature of the conference. The ACA conference is the place where everyone can meet current and potential business partners…and every year there are more people who are entering the cashew business. We capitalized on this by introducing the Business2Business Forum, where we link potential business partners. Another key element of success has been the World Cashew Expo. Who in Africa’s cashew industry can afford to miss an exhibition of the latest cashew processing equipment? The passion and commitment of farmer cooperatives, processors and service providers participating in this exhibition has made the conference a unique opportunity to engage with people from all parts of the value chain.

ACA: You have known every ACA president: Carlos Costa, Cherif Hibrahima, Idrissa Kilangi and Georgette Taraf. What are your best moments and what are your worst?

Unfortunately, the worst moment comes to my mind quickest. No doubt, the sudden passing away of our dear President Cherif Hibrahima was devastating. I had met Cherif on one of my first trips for ACA in 2008. We worked incredibly hard together in organizing the 2009 Cote d’Ivoire conference, which turned out the largest conference in ACA history until 2011. When he was elected President in 2010, we developed ambitious plans and I was very sure that we would do even greater things together. His disappearance left many of us in shock and sadness. But his life, his personality and his achievements inspired me to pursue our plans even harder.

In this situation, President Kilangi who was first appointed Acting President and later voted President by the Executive Committee, had of course an extremely difficult job. There was not one particular moment but seeing him rise up to that challenge was among my favorite experiences in ACA. He was a great supporter and we keep in touch until today. 

Christian oversaw the election of ACA's first female President, Georgette Taraf

Same with President Carlos Costa, being able to learn from his strategic vision and witnessing his passion and straightforwardness has been and continues to be a major source of inspiration for me. The best moment with him was probably remembering the ups and downs of the 2010 conference in Maputo over a dinner in 2011. Organizing the conference together somehow seems to create a special bond between people. Last year in Benin, it was unbelievable to see how hard Georgette Taraf, our current President, worked to make the event into the biggest success so far. It was definitely among my favorite moments when she became the first woman President of ACA.

ACA: Could you share three favorite highlights of your time at ACA?

CD: Wow, that is a difficult one. There are so many, I will have to be spontaneous at the risk of neglecting some important moments. I filmed the unloading of a container of Vietnamese cashew shelling machines in Banjul a few days before the conference with my mobile phone. It was an incredibly proud moment for me, because this fantasy, this idea that Jim Fitzpatrick, Ram Mohan and I developed over a beer in Accra, had actually become reality. Another moment was the launch of the ACA seal with Kraft Foods and Intersnack at the Banjul conference. So many of our partners had told me times and again that the seal was not feasible and that it seemed unlikely that we would bring these two snack food giants – and tough competitors in some products – together and sign a Memorandum of Understanding in support of the seal…But we did it!

I am struggling to single out a third one, so I will just give you a selection of other great moments in no particular order: the opening of the world cashew expo in 2012, which took the expo a step further after the introduction and experiment of 2011; presenting ACA at my first INC in 2009 to an audience of 600 people; elections for the ACA National Committee at the Ghana Cashew Day in 2009 (cashew farmer democracy live); signing of the East Africa platform MoU in 2012, approval of a major investment loan for a cashew processor with our support in 2012…I could go on and on...

ACA: ACA’s scope of work now includes the Conference, technical assistance to processors, the ACA Seal, the communications offer, a partnership program, and administration. What are you are most proud of?

CD: All and none of them. Let me explain: I am most proud of what the cashew farmers, traders, processors and buyers have achieved over the past years in the African cashew industry. In the 2012 ACA report you can see some of it in numbers: the raw cashew nut crop has more than doubled in 10 years, more than $500 million in cashew sales facilitated between 2006 and 2012, $90 million in new investments only in the past three years and 15,000 new jobs created. The ACA’s activities have all contributed to this remarkable success but it is the success of an entire industry, not one particular activity.

ACA: ACA is working with multiple stakeholders in highly different countries in Africa. How did you get their perspectives on how to best serve them?

CD: I think I learned two key things in that process: one is that perception is reality. That means if people are critical of you or your organization, even if you feel that you are being misunderstood, misrepresented or you completely disagree with them, you have no choice other than to listen to their concerns and find a way to address them. The second is to take criticism as a most valuable resource, an opportunity to improve and engage the critic. Too often we tend to get stuck in arguments over the validity of a criticism and we forget that both sides share the same objective.

Also, I loved taking the commercial approach in our various partnerships across the countries. I mean we said, we will provide you with information or technical assistance but we expect you to reciprocate, i.e. pay for it or provide us with information or contacts from your country/industry. There is a strong culture of charitable giving (or rather receiving) as a result of development cooperation in many of Africa’s cashew countries. We tried to distinguish ourselves from that by highlighting our private sector association nature and our service focus, i.e. for us it only made sense to conduct an activity for stakeholders if they were ready to value it, in the form of a cost-share, in-kind contribution or provision of information and contacts.

Celebrating after a successful 2012 Conference in Benin!

ACA: You received a lot of help from the US government, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, GIZ and also several private organizations. If you could speak to them all at once, what would you say?

CD: I would say: Thank You! For investing into the ACA ‘experiment’ – because I believe that is what it was at the beginning, no one really knew if it would work out. For providing funds needed for the start-up, for all your technical and strategic advice, which made ACA into what it is and last but not least for giving me the chance to contribute my part to it.

ACA: On April 29 2013, USAID finally approved a two year Global Development Alliance grant for the ACA Seal and technical assistance to processors.  It is the first time that you received a grant directly from the US government. How do you feel about this achievement?

CD: I feel that the entire ACA team can be extremely proud. It shows that our activities not only significantly grow the cashew industry but are also an important tool for poverty reduction in Africa. The financial support from Intersnack, Kraft Foods, Olam and Red River Foods has made this Global Development Alliance possible. We will also receive technical and strategic input from them as Advisory Board members to make this program a success. But the mere fact that USAID has decided to fund it, is also testimony to the ACA’s good administrative and financial governance, which should not be underestimated.

ACA: The ACA entered the Global Cashew Council, along with all the main cashew organizations and private sectors actors. Why is this an important membership for the ACA, and how did you participate?

CD: The idea of bringing together all of the cashew associations and the world’s major industry players dates back more than 10 years. Unlike other nuts, there was no forum for the world’s cashew industry stakeholders to discuss common issues and take action. After several attempts failed, the INC finally took the lead in 2011 and we at ACA made sure that Africa was represented, the world’s largest producer of cashew and with the fastest growing processing industry. We have concluded partnership agreements with national institutions in most of Africa’s cashew-producing countries which appoint ACA as representative in such a global body. Since the creation of the Global Cashew Council in 2011, it has commissioned research to a renowned research laboratory on the nutritional composition of cashew nuts from all major origins, including West and East Africa. This will be shortly published in a scientific journal, it is the most comprehensive independent study on cashew nutritional composition that has ever been done. After publication the findings will be available to everyone selling or promoting cashew. Also, at our last meeting in Barcelona a few weeks ago, the Global Cashew Council decided to commission a multi-year independent study on the effects of regular cashew consumption on the health of people with high cholesterol and inflammation. If it can be scientifically and independently proven that cashews are healthy or ‘heart-friendly’, it would make a huge impact. I am convinced that everyone in the cashew industry would benefit from increased and more stable demand – from farmer to processor to buyer to retailer.

ACA: You are leaving the ACA with the following results: a Business Code of Conduct, the Maputo Declaration, the ACA Seal, the Global Cashew Taskforce, the ACI, the Global Development Alliance, several key partnerships and 182 members? It’s quite impressive! Could you share your experience on what it’s like to leave such a large legacy?

Christian pitching African cashew at the 2010 Fancy Foods Show

CD: Again, I think these are all just means to an end, and that is growing the cashew industry sustainably. And I feel proud to have contributed my part to this development. Of course it is great to look back at what the ACA team and I have produced over the past five years. Sometimes it is easy to forget what has already been achieved when you see all of the work that still needs to be done. 

The industry is still growing, more and more companies are investing in cashew processing, by-product processing is in its infant stage in Africa and we are only at a little more than 10% processing of the whole production of raw cashew nuts. Then we need to keep in mind that other cashew origins continue to struggle with maintaining their raw cashew nut production levels now that their processing is strong. How is Africa going to avoid making the same mistakes in the future? Africa really has a unique chance to build a truly sustainable cashew industry. It is worth, however, to remember that the industry has an excellent vantage point and that ACA has developed some tools to stay on track.

ACA: How do you see the cashew industry in Africa in the future? And what will be the role of ACA?

CD: We are at a crucial point in time for the cashew industry in Africa: the crop is growing in most countries, more and more experienced traders are looking to invest in processing, the international market is recognizing Africa as an emerging source for cashew kernels and last but not least, governments are beginning to understand the industry’s importance for poverty reduction and local value addition. But that does not mean that the industry is an inevitable success. Just because Africa has a huge raw nut crop does not mean that the processing industry will ‘naturally’ move here. Look at all of the other commodities Africa has been and continues to export raw. Key challenges are to establish Africa as a supplier of a top quality product in the international market and to ensure financing of the needed investments. Hundreds of millions of dollars are needed. As a private sector association, ACA has the advantage of being right at the pulse of the industry. The ACA Executive Committee will decide what the priorities will be, but my feeling is that in the long-term ACA has most to offer to all stakeholders along the value chain, if it promotes demand for cashew from Africa. However, to be able to promote a product, first priority is to ensure good quality. And to produce good quality, you need people with experience, capacity…and of course more processing factories. And to set up more factories you need more financing. But to obtain an investment loan, you need a market, top quality, performance and, preferably, experience. This is where things come full circle and why I think ACA needs to continue focusing on market, quality and finance. Advocacy is important because it can cut across all of these challenges. But here I would also recommend for ACA to play the role of a service provider, a source of information, technical expertise and advice for our local partner associations.

ACA: How do you imagine ACA five years from now?                                                                                                                                                                        

CD: ACA is a unique animal. There is hardly any organization that can be compared to us. The Global Shea Alliance maybe, but they are operating in a completely different market. That is a challenge as well as an opportunity. It means that ACA can only follow ‘best practices’ from other organizations to a limited extent.  Most of what ACA does needs to respond to the specific industry needs or to a totally new situation that has not occurred before, because the industry continues to grow. On the other hand, this enables ACA to select activities and features from role model organizations and adapt them to the African context and to that of the industry. So I imagine ACA in five years to be a key vehicle for development assistance that intends to be aligned with industry needs and local association’s agenda. The Cocoa Foundation, for example, aligns development aid with industry needs. In addition to that, at ACA we bring the partnership with local associations and public agencies to the table. I imagine ACA to perform a role similar to the California Almond Board when it comes to promoting demand for cashew from Africa. But we need to keep in mind that not all can be easily transferred from Californian almonds to African cashews. Our story is about the millions of people gaining a livelihood from cashew business, the reduction of the carbon footprint though local processing, the difference a cashew factory makes in the lives of people in it and around it and of course the uniqueness of ACA as a partnership between international roasters and retailers, farmers and processors. In five years, I imagine ACA as the best source of information and expertise on the planet when it comes to cashew business in Africa. I believe that the ACA conference will continue to grow in the coming five years, hopefully the event will reach a profile and size similar to that of the INC but it will for sure need to balance networking with learning.