Delivered Quality Of Raw Cashew Nut ACAs Quality

Delivered Quality Of Raw Cashew Nut ACA’s Quality Enhancement Initiatives Sunil Dahiya, Business Advisory Manager African Cashew Alliance 18 -20 th February, 2016

About African Cashew Alliance (ACA) v Established in 2006, with the support of founders, i. e. USAID, Development Agencies and Private Sector v An association of African and international businesses with an interest in promoting a globally competitive African cashew industry v Representing all aspects of the cashew value chain including producers, processors, traders, and international buyers 2

Mission & Vision Statement Vision: A globally competitive African cashew industry that benefits the value chain – from farmer to consumer. Objectives: Increase processing Improve competitiveness and sustainability Facilitate public-private cooperation Mission: Support the African cashew industry by • providing technical assistance and facilitating investments • promoting market linkages and international standards • creating a global platform for sharing information and best practices 3

World Cashew Value-Chain Geography Source: ACA Annual Report, 2014 4

Global Raw Cashew Nut Quality Situation 43 Outturn – lbs Weight 53 44 53 46 52. 5 48 50 48. 5 50 India Indonesia Cote D'Ivoire Ghana 43 52 Vietnam Madagascar Tanzania Mozambique Brazil Guinea Bissau Benin Nigeria Source: Industry Experts and players 5

Why RCN Quality is So Important? q It is important to remember that the excellence and thoroughness of post harvest handling affects the quality of the product, which in turn affects the country's reputation for those products q Product quality influences the demand for those products on the world market, which in turn positively affects the price based on the quality of raw cashew nuts q Bottom-line: Better Quality Means “More Money” Source: Industry Experts and players 6

Markets Requires Quality RCN Dried nuts with 8 – 10% moisture content Better nut-count and kidney shaped (>200 nuts/kg) Shell Color - gray, dark grey, greenish or brownish Healthy nuts - free from mould, etc. Free from foreign materials, i. e. stones, leaves, metal piece, etc. (max tolerance 0. 5%) v Matured nuts - maximum 15% defective are tolerable v Packed and stored in Jute Bags v 48 lbs and above Outturn is quality grade while >43 lbs quality is poor grade and usually rejected v v v Source: ECOWAS RCN Specifications & Regulations, 2015 7

Quality Issues @ Farm Gate - Africa v Cashew not yet taken as ‘Transformation Commodity’ rather as a bush-crop v Aged trees and seedlings of poor genetics resulting in poor yields (450550 kg/hect/season in Africa as against 1 -1. 7 MT obtained in Vietnam, Brazil and India) v Minimal literacy and efforts on quality, organic and advanced farming v Less transparent price due to dependency on external final buyers v Limited outreach to market information, pricing trends and experts advise v Shrinking farmer’s encouragement initiatives; subsidized seedlings, fertilizers, pesticides, equipment and technical assistance Source: ACA Sectorial Assessment and Industry Report, 2015 8

Quality Quick Fixes ü Analyze and Improve the farm soil ü Use high yield planting materials ü Prompt irrigation with fertilizer usage ü Regular cleaning and pruning ü Chemical/Organic treatments for diseases ü Stop bush-firing for cleaning purposes ü Upgrade old cashew trees via ‘Top-Work’ technique ü Sun-Dry harvested nuts ü Practice Outturn testing prior to sales Source: ACA Annual Reports and USAID-TIME Report, 2015 9

Our RCN Quality Enhancement Initiatives TIME (Towards Inclusive Markets Everywhere) - Donor Supported Project q “Industry Alliances Working Together to Empower Poor Rural Women in the Cashew and Shea Sectors” q Joint grant awarded to African Cashew Alliance, Global Shea Alliance, and Borderless Alliance q Focus on improving product quality, increasing consumer awareness, and fostering market linkages in an effort to link rural women farmers to international value chains q Project Life: 2015 – 2017 (3 Yrs. ) q Countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria q Expected Impact: Create 2, 000 new jobs; impact 120, 000 small-scale cashew and shea farmers; generate $3 million in additional income each year Source: USAID-TIME Report, 2015 10

Our RCN Quality Enhancement Initiatives Farmers Trainings Initiative - Private Sector Project q Project Description: The program seeks to building the capacities of farmers in Ghana and Kenya through trainings on good farming techniques and the facilitation of market linkages with local processors q Project Life: 2015 – 2017 (3 Yrs. ) q Countries: Ghana and Kenya q Implementing Partner: Self Help Africa q Expected impact: Improved income security of 35, 000 smallholder farmers Source: Walmart Farmers Training Annual Report, 2015 11

Our RCN Quality Enhancement Initiatives ü 2010, trained national farmers association (1, 500+ farmer members) and CNC Field Officers in GAP and PHP ü 2011 -12, trained Gambian and Senegalese farmer association (1, 000+ farmer members) via IRD – Gambia & Senegal in “Quality Enhancement Practices & Commercial farming” ü 2012, TANECU farmer’s union reps (300+ farmer cooperative members) trained in “Outturn Testing” via UNIDO’s 3 ADI project in Tanzania ü 2015, Kogi State’s 20+ farmer groups trained via NCAN initiatives ü Since 2010 till date, 15+ assisted cashew processing companies Procurement Managers trained in “Procurement Management practices” ü Since 2011 till date, ACA Seal program supporting processors in quality and traceability practices Source: ACA Field Activities, 2010 -2016 12

ACA’s Proposal to Quality Seekers & Partners v Strengthened partnership with VINACAS, CEPCI and EMBRAPA for exporting RCN quality improvement as ‘African Quality facilitator’ v Better cooperation with active donor programs across Africa v Quality Improvement Advocacy initiatives with local governments v ACA’s Seal program extension to African Cashew Farmers v Online Assured Quality Market-Place establishment v Transparent and accessible market information (prices, trends and news) Source: ACA Sectorial Assessment and Industry Report, 2015 13

THANK YOU! Contact Us: African Cashew Alliance Secretariat Jubilee House, 4 th Street, Kuku Hill PMB 35 A – Osu Accra, Ghana Sunil Dahiya sdahiya@africancashewalliance. com M +233 544 34 00 40 F +233 302 78 22 31 Find Us Online: www. africancashewalliance. com @African. Cashew facebook. com/africancashewalliance