<p>Kerala government in coordination with the External Affairs Ministry plans to enter into a partnership with African nations by striking a long term procurement pact in consultation with their government and cooperatives subject to price agreement. This agreement will be a first of its kind attempt to save the crisis-ridden cashew sector industry in the state, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan after the inaugural of the two-day Cashew Conclave here on Wednesday, which had the participation of envoys from 15 African nations.</p> <p>"Kerala's raw cashew nut production is 0.83 lakh ton, while the annual requirement is 8 lakh ton. The net deficit is over 7 lakh tons per year. This agreement with African nations to procure raw cashew will ensure sufficient raw material and will help open the closed cashew factories. In the 100 days after coming to power, this state government has opened defunct cashew factories ensuring jobs for 8000 workers," Chief Minister said.</p> <p>"This agreement with African nations for direct procurement of raw cashew will help avoid intermediaries, to restore the value chain for Kerala buyers, processors and end product marketers. It will retain the demand and stability of prices," he said. It also aims at technology transfer and share the experience from African countries to cultivate disease resistant and hybrid varieties of cashew nuts that can offer an yield which will be three times more than the existing raw cashew nuts production in the state, he said.</p> <p>"Based on an action plan and follow up, state government in coordination with the External Affairs Ministry will plan a visit to identify major suppliers of cashew nuts. This agreement will also help in an Indo-African partnership for a better tomorrow," he said."Almost three lakh workers in Kerala depend on cashew processing for their livelihood. Most of these workers are women who belong to the most disadvantaged sections of the society. The biggest beneficiaries of this conclave are the cashew workers in Kerala and cashew farmers or producers in Africa," said Fisheries and Cashew industry Minister J Mercykutty Amma.</p> <p>Kerala government in coordination with the External Affairs Ministry plans to enter into a partnership with African nations by striking a long term procurement pact in consultation with their government and cooperatives subject to price agreement. This agreement will be a first of its kind attempt to save the crisis-ridden cashew sector industry in the state, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan after the inaugural of the two-day Cashew Conclave here on Wednesday, which had the participation of envoys from 15 African nations.</p> <p>"Kerala's raw cashew nut production is 0.83 lakh ton, while the annual requirement is 8 lakh ton. The net deficit is over 7 lakh tons per year. This agreement with African nations to procure raw cashew will ensure sufficient raw material and will help open the closed cashew factories. In the 100 days after coming to power, this state government has opened defunct cashew factories ensuring jobs for 8000 workers," Chief Minister said.</p> <p>"This agreement with African nations for direct procurement of raw cashew will help avoid intermediaries, to restore the value chain for Kerala buyers, processors and end product marketers. It will retain the demand and stability of prices," he said. It also aims at technology transfer and share the experience from African countries to cultivate disease resistant and hybrid varieties of cashew nuts that can offer an yield which will be three times more than the existing raw cashew nuts production in the state, he said.</p> <p>"Based on an action plan and follow up, state government in coordination with the External Affairs Ministry will plan a visit to identify major suppliers of cashew nuts. This agreement will also help in an Indo-African partnership for a better tomorrow," he said."Almost three lakh workers in Kerala depend on cashew processing for their livelihood. Most of these workers are women who belong to the most disadvantaged sections of the society. The biggest beneficiaries of this conclave are the cashew workers in Kerala and cashew farmers or producers in Africa," said Fisheries and Cashew industry Minister J Mercykutty Amma.</p> <p>"The target is to increase cashew exports from Rs 6000 crore to Rs 9000 crore, to ensure that Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation and CAPEX (Kerala State Cashew workers Apex industrial Co-operative Society) make profits," she said.The first of its kind conclave in the state to save the cashew sector industry, it will ensure 300 days of work a year for the workers in the sector. This Cashew conclave aims at deepening the South-South partnership between India and Africa. It is expected to help evolve Partnership Administration by External Affairs Ministry to enter into Letter of Intent (LoI) and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African nations, she said.</p> <p>Finance Minister Dr TM Thomas Isaac, State Planning Board vice-chairman VK Ramachandran, External Affairs Ministry joint secretary Nagraj Naidu, key person of the diplomatic conclave who served as ambassador to various African nations and former secretary of External Ministry Amarendra Khatua, additional chief secretary VS Senthil, state chief secretary Nalini Netto, special private secretary K.Anilkumar and the envoys of African nations were present.</p> <p>First envoys to arrive here are from Guinea Bissau led by their corporate affairs chairman Surinder Mehta and Corporate affairs president MJ Rahman. In addition envoys from West African nations Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Togo and Gambia took part. From East Africa, envoys from Tanzania, Mozambique, Kenya and Madagascar took part.</p> <p>Finance Minister Dr TM Thomas Isaac, State Planning Board vice-chairman VK Ramachandran, External Affairs Ministry joint secretary Nagraj Naidu, key person of the diplomatic conclave who served as ambassador to various African nations and former secretary of External Ministry Amarendra Khatua, additional chief secretary VS Senthil, state chief secretary Nalini Netto, special private secretary K.Anilkumar and the envoys of African nations were present.</p> <p>First envoys to arrive here are from Guinea Bissau led by their corporate affairs chairman Surinder Mehta and Corporate affairs president MJ Rahman. In addition envoys from West African nations Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Togo and Gambia took part. From East Africa, envoys from Tanzania, Mozambique, Kenya and Madagascar took part.</p>