In a bid to reduce challenges faced by cashew farmers and increase production, the National Cashew Association of Nigeria is set to sign a N3.6 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with foreign Investors.
President of the Association, Mr. Ojo Ajanaku disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja, where he stated that there would be a roundtable conference targeted at converging investors, off-takers and farmers to sign the MoU.
The association’s overarching objective according to him is to increase the annual production of cashew from 50 billion to 220 billion by the year 2020.
“At the present time, Kogi State produces 60% of the entire cashew produced in-country”.
He added that targeted investors are local off-takers who are currently 20 in number and 15 other foreigners.
One of the stakeholders in the value chain, Mr. Isaac Sunday, while highlighting some of the challenges incurred in cashew production underscored inadequate lending from financial institutions, high cost of production and multiple taxations as critical bottlenecks.