New Factories Open as Cashew Season Starts in West Africa

30,000MT Facility Inaugurated in Côte d’Ivoire

A new page has been turned in the short history of West African cashew processing. On 23 February, ACA founding member Olam International Limited inaugurated a fully mechanized plant in Bouake, Côte d’Ivoire with a processing capacity of 30,000 MT, making it the largest cashew processing facility in Africa, and one of the largest globally. With this factory Olam multiplies by six the processing capacity of Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s second largest cashew producing country.

ThPresident of Côte d’Ivoire H.E. Alassane Ouattara applauds workers at the new Olam factory at its inaguration ceremony (photo copyright Olam)

e factory will employ 2,400 people when running at full capacity, of whom 60% will be women. The company invested US$ 30 Million in the facility. At the factory’s inauguration, Olam CEO Sunny George Verghese announced that Olam plans to invest in two new cashew processing plants in the near future in Côte d’Ivoire, one in Khorogo and one in Bondoukou for a total investment of US$ 60 Million. In his speech, Mr. Verghese said, “Olam is committing to supporting a sustainable cashew value chain. Through our ongoing farmer linkage program with the African Cashew Initiative and GiZ under the auspices of African Cashew Alliance, the new factory will improve the livelihood of approximately 30,000 cashew farmers.” Olam will offer farmers a purchaing guarantee for raw cashew nuts and provide transport, logistics, and storage capabilities, while Olam benefits from a secure supply of high quality, traceable raw cashew nuts.

Young women grade nuts at the new Anatrans factory in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Anatrans Opens Largest Processing Plant in Burkina Faso

The largest processing plant in Burkina Faso was also inaugurated at the end of February by ACA member Anatrans. Located in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, the new factory has a processing capacity of 3,500 MT. The facility represents a US$2 million investment, with support from Trade and Development Group as well as the Dutch government’s private sector development fund for developing countries. The factory will employ around 1,000 workers, 85% of whom are women. Anatrans representatives also stated that they will work with 275 farmer groups to source raw nuts for the factory. 

Stakeholders Officially Launch Season Throughout West Africa

Throughout West Africa, cashew trees are fruiting, the first nuts are dropping, and harvest is well underway. Stakeholders are consistently optimistic about the coming season, as favorable weather conditions in most countries seem to point to strong production volumes and high quality nuts. While considerable questions remain about how prices will develop throughout the season, cashew players across the value-chain gathered in multiple countries throughout the last month to officially open the season.

In Burkina Faso, the ACA National Committee Burkina Faso organized the launching of the cashew season on 10 March in Bobo-Dioulasso. Fifty people attended, including a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture. An indicative farmgate price for the season was announced at 200 CFA/kg by the ACA National Committee after consultation with industry stakeholders. In a speech, the representative of the Ministry of Agriculture emphasized the strong momentum in the cashew sector in recent years and congratulated the ACA National Committee for their efforts along with their partners the African Cashew Initiative and the ACA Secretariat. Burkina Faso produces today 25,000MT of cashew, generating income to more than 45,000 households and jobs for more than 2,400 people.

Under new leadership, the National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) convened more than 500 cashew farmers, traders, processors and exporters to Ilorin, Nigeria to launch the cashew season on 1 March. ACA Managing Director Christian Dahm participated in the event, presenting key elements of a sustainable cashew industry in Nigeria. Using ACi materials, Olam conducted a cashew quality testing demonstration for farmers. Nigeria is developing a strategy to greatly expand its production volumes and processing capacity in the next few years.

On 27-29 February, the first Annual Cashew Days were held in Mali, organized by the Project CTARS (Marketing and Processing of Cashew in the Sikasso Region). Traders, processors, producers, equipment suppliers, financial partners, state services, civil society, and local elected officials all gathered to discuss problems facing the development of the cashew sector in Mali, propose solutions for its sustainable development, and officialy launch the trading season for 2012. An indicative price was announced for the season, and actors participated in Buiness2Business meetings which led  to the negotiation and signing of contracts between partners.

IRD Country Director Joanne Yeager-Sallah poses with a billboard promoting cashew consumption in The Gambia to coincide with the start of the cashew harvest

Also to coincide with the start of the season, International Relief and Development (IRD) held  two  cashew festivals in The Gambia and Senegal on February 25 and March 10 respectively. The two events attracted a combined 900 people. The emphasis was on increasing awareness of the nutritional importance of cashew and encouraging creative uses of cashew nut and cashew apple in local dishes. An extensive media campaign of radio programs and billboards also carried these messages.