The African Cashew Alliance (ACA) has announced the cancellation of the 2014 ACA World Cashew Festival and Expo due to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

The festival and expo was scheduled for November 11- November 14 in Accra.

“Given the recent ban on international conferences in Ghana, and recognising the importance of supporting the prevention of a wider spread of Ebola, ACA is sad to announce the cancellation of this year’s edition of the world’s premier cashew industry conference, previously scheduled,” a statement from the organisers said.

ACA Managing Director Roger Brou commented: “After careful consideration of the many factors surrounding the Ebola epidemic of the recent months, we have come to realize that the obstacles related to hosting the 2014 conference in Ghana are overwhelming.”

“We have accordingly decided to cancel this year’s ACA World Cashew Festival. We trust that you will understand our motives for doing this, and we are confident that Ghana’s ongoing efforts to ensure the country remains Ebola-free will be successful,” he added.

The ACA World Cashew Festival and Expo will return in 2015.