The Government’s Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) programme has established about 46,000 hectares of cashew plantation in the Bono Region since 2018.

The programme had supplied thousands of cashew farmers with free improved seedlings and provided them with free services by Agriculture Extension Officers to adopt best agricultural practices for improved yields.

Mr Dennis Abugri Amenga, the Bono Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), said this at the launch of the “Amplifying the Voices of Cashew Farmers (AVFC) Project” at Drobo in the Jaman South Municipality.

The 15-month project, being implemented by Cashew Watch Ghana (CWG), a non-governmental organisation, and funded by STAR Ghana Foundation, aims at mobilising and empowering civil society organisations (CSOs) to get rid of bottlenecks impeding the growth of the cashew industry.

It further sought to push state-actors to take meaningful actions that would contribute to create and promote a vibrant cashew sector through advocacy, transparency and accountability.

Mr Amenga commended STAR Ghana Foundation for the project, saying, over the years, it had extended its advocacy programmes to support cashew sector development.

“It is glad to note that CSOs have understood the need to support the government and its development partners to build the prospects in the nation’s cashew sector,” he said.

“The cashew industry can only grow and survive if all the players in the industry contribute their quota.”

Mr Amenga also commended the CWG for the advocacy and said with the region being the leading producer of cashew, the project would help empower farmers to increase production.

The region produced about 170,000 metric tonnes of raw cashew nuts in 2021.

Mr Simon Asore, the Functional Steering Committee Chairman of the CWG, said the organisation was formed in 2019 by the Global Media Foundation (GLOMeF) to champion the cause of cashew farmers.

“It is made up of CSOs, cashew farmers and local processors…We sought to advocate change and promote the livelihoods of cashew farmers, especially women in cashew farming”.

The cashew value chain had significant potential for job creation and poverty reduction, hence the need for the advocacy, he said.

As one of the top non-traditional export commodities in the country, Mr Asore said cashew, for the past five years, had contributed immensely to widening the nation’s foreign exchange receipts.

The nation earned US$128.70 million dollars from cashew export in the first quarter of 2021, he said.

He, however, said the lack of proper coordination among actors in the sector had resulted in smuggling of the nuts, which had also paved the way for unauthorised buyers and exporters to buy directly from farmers at lower prices.

Mr Andrews Bediako, the Jaman South Municipal Chief Executive, said the Government was doing everything possible to create an enabling policy environment for the cashew industry to thrive, and urged the farmers to maintain their confidence in the ruling Party.