- Tanzania cashew nut costs triple.
- The nation plans to export processed cashew nuts by 2027.
- Over 1500 acres set for a cashew nut industrial park.
Tanzania is planning to maneuver from the export of uncooked cashew nuts to processing in-country and export added worth exports of the product. Notably, the Tanzania Mercantile Alternate (TMX) has reported that the East African nation’s cashew nut costs have greater than tripled, rising from a number of cents per kilogram final harvest to over two {dollars} this season.
“That is the primary time costs have elevated to such file excessive. We welcome this improvement because the auctions proceed,” notes Sharifu Linjenje, a cashew farmer from Newala District within the Mtwara area.
The farmer was one in every of many others who instructed native media that ought to the excessive worth be sustained, then it’ll make a distinction within the farmers’ lives. Market costs of uncooked cashew nuts have hit historic excessive throughout this week’s public sale the place over 3,850 tonnes had been traded by the Tanzania Mercantile Alternate (TMX) on-line platform.
“The worth enhance in the beginning of the public sale season is pushed by excessive world demand and low availability,” defined Francis Alfred, Director Basic of the Cashew Nuts Board of Tanzania (CBT).
He mentioned a complete of 37 corporations participated on the public sale and out of those, 10 corporations supplied the best bids and purchased your complete inventory of over 3,800 tonnes of uncooked cashews.
The Director-Basic referred to as on farmers and sector stakeholders within the cashew nut worth chain to keep up constant manufacturing of high-quality uncooked cashew nuts if the nation is to stay aggressive within the world market.
Reached for remark, Mtwara Regional Commissioner Colonel Patrick Sawala seconded the significance of sustaining high-quality requirements of cashew nuts. Mtwara is a southern Area in Tanzania the place the best quantity of cashew nuts are produced. He mentioned the regional authority is dedicated to supporting farmers with the wanted agro-inputs to spice up their productiveness.
Earlier this 12 months, Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan lamented cashew nut costs saying the nation has no management over the costs in need of producing top quality merchandise that may command excessive costs.
“We produce cashew nuts, however neither of us controls the worldwide costs,” President Samia instructed a press convention.
The convention was in lure of a gathering together with her Mozambique counterpart Filipe Nyusi who visited the nation. Mozambique can be a producer of cashew nuts and the 2 leaders declared their will to forge relations and to type a union of African cashew producers that might give them a unified voice within the world market.
“We agreed to type a union to have a unified voice available in the market…it will assist our farmers and our economies as effectively,” President Samia mentioned. She additionally revealed that she had held related talks with the President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Embaló, one other cashew nut producing nation.
President Samia additionally confused the significance of conducting each manufacturing and market analysis on cashew nuts within the hope of accelerating the advantages to reap from the product.
Learn additionally: Mtwara to host Tanzania’s first Fairtrade cashew nuts plant as exports surge
Tanzania is one among the many main cashew producing nations in Africa and is ranked as Africa’s fourth-largest cashew producer. The nation earned US$226.9M in uncooked cashew nut exports within the final fiscal 12 months.
Cashew nuts are the best overseas currency-earning crop within the nation with exports offering 10-15 p.c of the nation’s overseas alternate experiences the Cashew Nuts Board of Tanzania (CBT).
Main cashew rising space in Tanzania contains Mtwara, Lindi, Ruvuma and Tanga. Amongst these areas, Mtwara and Lindi areas contributes greater than 87% to the nationwide cashew manufacturing.
In keeping with the CBT, Tanzania contributes over 20 p.c to the continent’s annual cashew nut provide however has the potential to supply much more.
Amongst challenges that have an effect on manufacturing in Tanzania is an absence of efficient regulation and unreliable funds to farmers, media experiences maintain. At the moment, it’s the Cashew nut Board of Tanzania that oversees the sale and advertising of cashew nuts.
Then there’s additionally the difficulty of promoting uncooked produce, over 90 per cent of Tanzania’s cashew nut exports are uncooked. The sale of uncooked cashew nuts deprives the nation of great overseas income and job alternatives as effectively.
There are solely 4 main cashew nut processors in Tanzania, and specialists recommendation on the necessity to entice overseas buyers into the sector.
“Tanzania should entice overseas funding to ascertain a sturdy cashew nut processing business inside its borders. This may not solely create jobs but additionally allow the nation to seize a larger share of the worth chain,” the CBT official reasoned.
With overseas funding, Tanzania can transfer from promoting uncooked produce to exporting greater worth processed cashew nuts and that is what the federal government plans to do.
In keeping with the CBT, Tanzania desires to export processed cashews by 2026/27 as a substitute of uncooked cashew nuts.
Former Deputy Agriculture Minister Anthony Mavunde alluded to the actual fact when he attended the cashew nut business stakeholders assembly within the Tanga Area final season.
He mentioned, greater than 1500 acres of land have been put aside in for the development of an industrial park that might be devoted to the processing of cashew nuts.
“We’re supposed to make sure that over 300,00 tonnes of uncooked cashew nuts are processed regionally and cashew shells are handled,” he demanded.
In keeping with the Cashew Nut Board of Tanzania (CBT), the manufacturing of uncooked cashews has elevated from over 210,700 tonnes within the final season to effectively over 240,100 tonnes in 2022, that represents a14 p.c development.
Hussein Bashe, the Minister for Agriculture has reassured stakeholders that the federal government is just however finalizing the required budgetary and architectural preparation for the arrange of a contemporary cashew processing facility within the Mtwara area.
The Minister decried the truth that solely 5 p.c of cashew nuts are processed within the nation.
“95 p.c of our produce is exported to Vietnam or India for worth addition earlier than been resold to the ultimate shopper markets of Europe and America,” he mentioned. “Others are benefitting from our cashew nuts,” he lamented.
