An international nonprofit organisation, TechnoServe, has stated that its Prosper Cashew project is geared towards generating $1.5 billion from cashew kernel sales in West Africa by 2030.Â
TechnoServe Chief of Party, Krishanu Chakravarty, stated this in Abuja on Thursday, during an interactive meeting with private sector operators, donor community, government agencies and other major players in the cashew industry.
Chakravarty said that the Prosper Cashew Project is bringing about a big boost to the cashew value chain, saying it would link operators in the sector to information, capital and relevant markets as well as generate thousands of jobs in the West Africa region.
He said, “Prosper Cashew will be remembered in 2030 as catalyst to transformational impact;$1.5 billion in cashew kernel sales; 26,000 new jobs; 133,000 women, children, and men indirectly benefited.”
He also said the project has created an ecosystem that expands volumes of processed cashew in the region, noting that the scheme would also ensure innovations and increase profitability in the cashew industry.
On his part, the regional director of TechnoServe West Africa, Larry Ummuna, who expressed delight over the quality of participants at the event, said the organisation would leave no stone unturned to reposition the cashew industry in the region through robust collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
“We have no doubt that as TechnoServe in collaboration with all of you, that we can truly transform the cashew processing industry not only in Nigeria but in the region.
” For those of you who may not know TechnoServe, TechnoServe is an international not for profit organisation, and we work to deliver business solutions to poverty in nearly 30 countries around the globe.
” For us it is about impact, it is about results, it is about increasing income for smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs. We also take pride in contributing to the growth of businesses – small, medium and large corporations.”
Also speaking, the Managing Director of African Cashew Alliance , Ernest Mintah, lamented the wide gap between the continent and Asia in the area of cashew processing, adding that concerted efforts are needed to change the situation.
“There is a lot of work to be done in the continent as we grow processing (capacity), we are processing about 10 percent of production in the continent. But it cannot be done alone by the government or by the private sector. It has to be also done by concerted efforts of our development partners, that is why we of the African Cashew Alliance are very excited of the presence of Prosper Cashew Project being implemented through funding from USDA (United States Department for Agriculture) in the cashew sector.
“We know the USDA project of Prosper Cashew will focus on processing, particularly attracting investment for processing in Africa and we will be able to change the landscape and expand job creation in the sector,” he said.
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