ACA Assists Nigerian Cashew Sector through USAID TIME Program

Firstly, there was a marked lack of training.  Outside of a small subset of farmers in Oyo State who had been trained by the nonprofit organization TechnoServe, almost no one had received any training in modern farming techniques.  Accordingly, farm management, pest control, storage techniques, and harvest and post-harvest practices rarely conform to best practice policies.

Secondly, many cashew trees are affected by pests and disease - a situation which, given the lack of training in pest management, is often highly damaging to farmers’ livelihoods. 

Thirdly, due to the lack of knowledge about post-harvest practices, cashew quality is sometimes quite poor. The fourth obstacle is a lack of access to capital: since there is no easy system through which they can access credit, farmers are often unable to hire labor or pay for equipment and other farm inputs.  Fifthly and finally, many farmers lamented that prices greatly fluctuate in the market, causing severe instability in income.

Throughout the coming months, ACA will develop and implement community-specific trainings to combat each of these issues.  Interactive demonstrations will be presented on pest control and post-harvest practices; business and technical advisory will be provided to properly manage large farms; and instruction will be offered in financial management. 

Ultimately, ACA’s assistance to farmers will help contribute to NCAN’s vision of making the cashew sector one of the country’s main non-oil revenue sources.  Once Nigeria’s cashew farmers receive strategic, tailored trainings, there will be a much stronger foundation for increasing cashew processing.  According to the president of NCAN, Tola Faseru, “Less than 20% of what is produced is being processed - which means that [Nigeria] is exporting its jobs.”  Through partnership with ACA, USAID, and other organizations, this percentage should improve significantly in coming years.