<p>Mali and Guinea Conakry, on Friday joined the International Consultative Cashew Council (CICC), APA can report from a meeting of ministers of member countries held in Abidjan.The two countries joined Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Senegal and Benin during the CICC Council of Ministers, which was preceded by a meeting of cashew experts.According to the Ivorian Minister of Industry and Mines, Jean Claude Brou, the Abidjan meeting is a “major event for the smooth running of the cashew nut sector, as it will strengthen the governance of the sector.”</p> <p>He went on to say that he regretted the processing rate of the produce on the continent, which is 6 percent against 120 percent in South America and 200% in Asia.“The real challenge is to reverse this trend,” Jean Claude Brou insisted, citing the aging of orchards and low information exchanges and limited access to financing for this sector.CICC is a platform that aims to bring together cashew nut producing countries in order to develop and promote the cashew industry and better control market prices.It was set up after the second edition of the International Cashew Processing Equipment & Technology Show (SIETTA 2016).</p> <p>The Council of Ministers will take cognizance of the Headquarters Agreement signed by the Ivorian government, demonstrating its acceptance to host CICC’s headquarters in Cote d’Ivoire, the world’s largest producer with 250,000 producers and 1.5 million people who directly or indirectly depend on the sector for their livelihood.</p>