The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, has said the ministry will, within the next 60-90 days, work closely with all stakeholders involved with the cashew business to put in place a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to streamline the activities of the cashew industry.
He said the MoU among other things would seek to develop policies that would be satisfactory to all stakeholders in the sector.
Mr Spio-Garbrah said this when he toured the factory and plant of Usibras, a Brazilian Company which is into cashew processing.
He said the stakeholders would include the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, cashew growers, cashew traders, cashew processors, the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Ministry of Finance, Parliament and Cabinet.
“The meeting will look at what kind of credit schemes could be made available to farmers and processors, what kind of export regime would be put in place by way of tariffs and taxes on exports or temporary bans, and the kind of buffer stock or storage facilities that could be made available for those who do not process the cashew immediately or sell immediately,” he said.
He said the ministry through the Foreign Ministry would also hold discussions with neighbouring countries that are into cashew processing to come up with effective policies that would benefit all parties.
Cashew processing capacity
The minister mentioned that the country had the capacity to process all the raw cashew that were being produced and, therefore, did not see any reason why some should be exported at the moment.
“As long as we have more processing capacity than raw cashew nuts, one hundred per cent of Ghana’s cashew should be processed in Ghana. Our next door neighbour, Ivory Coast, produces 700,000 raw cashew per annum but processes only 10 per cent of that which is the same approximate processing capacity as Ghana,” he said.
“Our cashew processing percentage could move in tandem with the expansion of the raw cashew production. By the time we reach maybe 100,000 cashew production, we could also be processing 100,000 cashew in the country,” he added.
Investments
Mr Spio-Garbrah also added that if investors did not get the assurance that raw cashew would be available for them when they invest in processing plants, then they would take their investments elsewhere.
He said government’s travel all over the world to attract investors who in turn create lots of jobs and, therefore, called for the need to protect these investors.
“Asians are buying our raw cashew nuts and taking it to create jobs in their countries. Of the 12 processing companies in Ghana, it’s only two that are owned by foreigners so we are denying our own Ghanaian investors raw materials to produce in our country,” he added.
Cooperation in the sector
The Brazilian Ambassador to Ghana, Mrs Irene Vida Gala, for her part, said the cashew business in Ghana was good and was glad about the Brazilian investment in the sector.
He, however, said the company would be productive and employ more people only if they have more raw cashew available to them.
She, therefore, called on the government to come up with effective policies to protect both the cashew farmers and processors in order to create more jobs.
She also advised government to put the farmers and processors closely together because they were the ones who would bring benefits to the country.
“The cashew business would not be viable again in Ghana if there are no processors,” she stated.
Lack of raw cashew
The Director for Usibras, Mr Tarciso Falcao, said its plant had the capacity to process 35,000 metric tonnes of cashew per annum but was currently doing just 20 per cent of its full capacity due to the lack of raw cashew on the market.
He said that had led to the company reducing its staff from 641 to 541.
“We are managing to buy some raw cashew form Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Benin to sustain our production but going forward, we will consider shutting down our plants if we still don’t get access to the raw cashew,” he said.