By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Cashew farmers in Nigeria are planning to earn about N146.8 billion ($480 million at the CBN exchange rate of N305.80 to a Dollar) from exporting the commodity this year.
President of National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), Mr Tola Faseru, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview on Wednesday in Abuja.
The association’s boss also disclosed that about N20 billion was needed to finance the exportation of cashew in 2018, adding that Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh, has promised to give out three million cashew seedlings to support cashew farmers and boost production this year.
“If the crop comes out better, at least reaching $480 million this year and with the push on value addition, by next year, we should have bigger result.
“Where we are going is to be able to do like Vietnam is doing which is doing about three billion dollars yearly, which is what we earn from all our non-oil export.
“This can only be done or achieved by scaling up production with our value addition, and setting up factories,” Mr Faseru told NAN yesterday.
“Export is one area that requires finance and huge capital. We want about N20 billion to pursue the campaign for this year, so that people can have access to funding with less rigidity and low interest rates,” he added.
The NCAN boss noted that the Nigerian cashew brand was presently gaining popularity and referred to as the best at the international market, pointing out that a four-year cashew development road map has been set up to increase production to 500,000 tonnes.
According to him, plans have been put in place to enhance value addition of cashew nuts up to about 70 percent within four years.
Mr Faseru explained that the association was also targeting export earnings of about $3 billion annually to match its Vietnamese counterpart in cashew production.
He said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had agreed to support the produce, especially for its value addition to move beyond the export of raw cashew.
