The life of the Regulations undergirding the cashew production in Ghana is to boost the sector. The aim of the National Cashew Strategy includes but are not limited to enable the environment for sector actors, ensure a sustained increase in cashew farmer productivity, the development of a competitive and sustainable local processing industry, the establishment of stable and long-term business relationships.
In Accra, a workshop was held by the Directorate of Crop Services, Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA) in partnership with the Competitive Cashew initiative (GIZ/Com Cashew. It was funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Ghana is known to be an exporter of the profitable cashew nuts business which benefits both the farmer and the government. Ghana is ranked as the sixth highest producer in Africa and the 10th producer in the world. The foregoing was the motive of the just-ended workshop in an attempt to boost the sector to the top.
Also, to introduce the TCDA and the key stakeholders to existing policies in the cashew space, global trends in the cashew market, regulatory measures taken by other cashew-producing countries around the world, and the status and prospects of cashew and by-product processing in Ghana and the sub-region.
The TCDA was commissioned in 2020 for the production, processing and trading of cashew, Shea, coconut, rubber, mango and oil palm. Also, it has a five-year National Tree Crop Strategy. The Deputy Director explained further the aim of the Tree Crops Development Authority and expressed his gratitude for the various stakeholders’ contributions.
More so He added that; the TCDA will make use of the support system available, being provided by the stakeholders to ensure high efficiency of the duties of the authority.
Mrs. Anna Schick, Deputy Head of Cooperation at the Swiss Embassy, stated that her country is ready and willing to work in cahoots with Ghana to enhance the cashew environment to benefit farmers and other value chain players.
The Executive Director of the Competitive Cashew Initiative, Ms. Rita Weidenger said GIZ/Com Cashew and SECO in Ghana already have interest in supporting the creation of a well-regulated cashew sector. In effect, GIZ/Com Cashew will support the TCDA with policy advice and guidance in the development of regulatory measures for the Ghanaian cashew sector.
She further said GIZ/Com Cashew in partnership with some other development bodies will support the initiative from the drafting of the Tree Crop Development Bill to its final assent by the President. “With its inauguration, GIZ/Com Cashew and SECO continue to support the work of the TCDA,” she added.
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