<p></p><p>The Acting Cashewnut Board Chairman, Mr Mudhihir Mudhihir, announced the good news on Monday, when addressing a press conference in Dar es Salaam on the sidelines of the Third International Cashew Conference (ICC). <br></p> <p>Mr Mudhihir revealed that construction of the factories in Mtwara, Tunduru and Mkuranga were earlier planned to start last month, but due to some logistical constraints the projects have been delayed. <br></p> <p>Construction of the three factories are expected to bring about tremendous change to the welfare of thousands of cashew growers in the country as well as providing jobs to several hundreds of thousands of people in the areas. <br></p> <p>According to officials in the Ministry of Agriculture, Cooperatives and Marketing, the proposed factories are projected to absorb up to 80 per cent of cashew nut produced in the country. Most of the crop is currently exported raw to several Asian countries including India, where processing factories continue to offer jobs to thousands. <br></p> <p>It is hoped that the proposed factories will bring to an end decades of the unfortunate scenario that saw Tanzania exporting jobs to Asian nations. <br></p> <p>However, the processing factories should also be extended to other crops including cotton, coffee, oil seeds and fruit, which continue to be exported raw, much to the chagrin of millions of farmers. Tanzania has great potential in developing those crops and is among the leading producers on the African continent. <br></p> <p>Tanzanians have for long been calling for establishment of processing factories and broad industrialisation programmes to accelerate poverty reduction. The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) in its 2015-2020 Election Manufesto underlined that industrialisation and agro-based factories are among its priorities. <br></p> <p>President John Pombe Magufuli is his campaign trail repeatedly declared that industrialisation was going to feature prominently in his development agenda. This is the time for action.<br></p><p></p>