Accra to host World Cashew Festival

The African Cashew Alliance (ACA) has selected Ghana to host the World Cashew Festival and Expo13 from September 16 to 19, 2013 at the Moevenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra.

Cashew farmers, processors, traders, exporters, service providers, retailers, equipment manufacturers, bankers and governments will convene to shape tomorrow’s cashew industry.

The 2013 World Cashew Festival will be a unique platform on which to do business, exchange practices, and learn from experts around the world.

The World Cashew Expo13 will offer opportunities to meet with equipment manufacturers and service providers.

This year, the Cashew Festival’s theme will be “Value Chain and Gains!”, focusing on the potential to leverage profit in each sector of the cashew industry and in new markets.

Farmers can explore new markets by taking up beekeeping or producing cashew-apple juice. Processors can sell the raw cashew shell to producers of cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) or the husk for dying clothes.

Even cashew breakages, the “challenge” of the cashew industry, could be used to produce gluten-free milk as well as vegetarian bean and nut burgers. Both farmers and processors can increase their sales by meeting internationally recognised quality food safety and social/labor standards.

In future, an increase in the consumption of African cashew will boost emerging markets and offer huge business potential to local and foreign investors.

Ghana produced over 50,000mt of raw cashew nuts in 2012, with production largely centred in the Brong Ahafo Region.

However, Ghana acts as a hub for trading cashews from neighbouring countries, including Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso. In total, almost 200,000mt of RCN was exported in 2011.

On the processors’ side, Ghana had an installed processing capacity of about 18,000mt.  Another company being constructed has a facility with a 35,000mt capacity. When it opens next year, it will establish Ghana as the leading country in West Africa in terms of processing.

On September 16, there will be an opening ceremony and inauguration of the 2013 exhibition, The next day will see experts speaking at the plenary session about the trend in the cashew industry.

The World Cashew Forum will have five sessions on September 18:  Farming, processing techniques and technologies, cashew and sustainable ideas, finance and investment and an ECOWAS workshop.

The business2business forum, an event which links potential business partners, will also be held on the 18th. On September 19, exciting trips to Mim Cashew Factory, the Kakum National Park or the Cape Coast Castle will be organised.