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Cheer for the cashew sector in East Africa
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NCREASED GLOBAL DEMAND coupled with the need for a healthy lifestyle, has stimulated the revival of cashew nut production in Kenya as well as in neighbouring Tanzania. Industry players, governments as well as donor organisations such as the European Union (EU) have also invested in the revival of local cashew nut production. However, low prices and exploitation by intermediaries affect farmers. “Farmers need a strong guarantee to move back to cashew nuts as many have switched to cotton, mangoes and coconuts ,” observed Joseph Mutuko, a farmer in Msambweni, Kwale County, near the Tanzanian border. The global demand has increased by 53 per cent since 2010. Research has established that cashew nuts have high levels of iron, magnesium, zinc, copper, phosphorus and manganese. They are also rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids that promote healthy levels of good cholesterol. “Local men believe cashew nuts boost virility as well as stomach discomfort. It is high in demand in Kenya,” observed Ali Hussein, a regular consumer of the nuts in the Kenya’s coastal town of Mombasa. In Kenya, production currently stands at
14 African Farming - March/April 2020
about 25,000 tonnes annually, far below the 1978 peak production of 38,000 tonnes. This production represents a meagre 0.6 per cent of the global production. Yet, the industry still employs at least 68,950 farmers in the Kenyan coast. A report by Kenya’s Nut and Oil Directorate noted that land under cashew nuts decreased from 28,758 hectares in 2015 to 21,284 the following year. The production also went down from 18,907 to 11,404 tonnes in the same period. Progress in Tanzania Tanzania on the other hand, has experienced a tremendous growth in the cashew nut sub-sector in the last few years. For instance, the government projects a 33 per cent increase in production in the year ending September 2020: mainly due to favourable weather conditions and increased planting. Output over the period is seen reaching 300,000 tonnes from 225,000 tonnes in the 2018-19 period. In 2019, the government intervened and ordered a 94 per cent hike in farm gate prices to protect farmers from exploitation by middlemen of one of the country’s most valuable crop exports.
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Despite many challenges, there are several initiatives contributing to improve production and value addition. Mwangi Mumero reports.
Concerted efforts in Africa are helping to revive the cashew nut sector.
Sector revival in Kenya Efforts are currently underway in Kenya with the EU contributing US$2.4mn to boost the planting of new trees in Kilifi, Kwale and Lamu counties. Through the Ten Senses Africa company, the EU is propagating cashew nut seedlings, providing extension services and buying nuts for processing on a factory to be established in three years in Kilifi County. “The seedlings are being procured by the county governments on behalf of farmers. A seedling costs KS 100 (US$1),” observed John Amatole, the company’s business development manager. Launched in June 2018, the project has made remarkable progress, having distributed 450,000 high-yielding seedlings to farmers in Kwale, Kilifi and Lamu counties and obtained the fair trade certification of 15,000 smallholder farmers to enable them access high-value markets. Ten Senses Africa in collaboration with Farm Africa, an international non-governmental organisation active in Kenya, is assisting in establishing three cashew seedling nurseries, training farmers on fair trade and organic certification and in providing incentives to youth and women to supply services to the value chain in a sustainable way.
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