<p></p><p>At its meeting on February 13, 2015 in Abidjan, the Technical Review Committee of the Africa Trade Fund (AfTra) approved funding worth more than US $1.4 million for four projects that will support trade development in Africa. AfTra, a trade-related technical assistance facility hosted by the African Development Bank, was established in 2013 to provide funding for trade facilitation, building capacity for trade institutions, and developing products and markets in Africa.</p><p>One of the projects that have just been approved will support value chain development in the cashew industries. The project, presented by the African Cashew Alliance, aims to support cashew industries in both East and West Africa by improving the product quality, the environmental standards and sustainability in cashew processing, and by market development activities . It also has an added focus on supporting women to move up the value chain - from selling the crop to local traders, to processing it.<br></p><p></p>