<p>From the 24th-28th of October, the African Cashew Alliance participated in the last session of the fourth edition of the Cashew Master Training Program organized by the Competitive Cashew Initiative (ComCashew) and the ACA as co-organizer. With a total number of 67 participants from 12 countries this year, the Program aims to build capacity in the industry by developing qualified professional experts to facilitate knowledge exchange, learning and innovations.</p> <p>This session followed two previous sessions conducted in Ho and Sunyani, both towns in the Volta and Western Regions of Ghana respectively. In her speech during the opening ceremony, Mrs. Marian Lamptey, Head of Communications and Member Services at the ACA emphasized the need for capacity building in the sector and the need for African cashew stakeholders to work towards the common vision concluded at the 11th ACA Annual Cashew Conference for the development of the sector.</p> <p>Over the period of the last session, participants were trained in topics like cashew processing economics, harvest and post-harvest handling, farming economics, cashew nut quality testing and facilitation skills, among others. They were also urged to maximize the opportunity given them to be trained as experts by putting their new skills to use after the program.</p> <p>To sustain the network of experts and to facilitate visibility of skills for the cashew industry, ACA has developed the Cashew Experts Database which is accessible online via the ACA website. The system aims to create an Africa-wide network of cashew experts, increase the transparency of services available in the cashew sector, facilitate access to services across the cashew supply chain, and provide quality assurance of cashew expert services.ACA is pleased to be associated with the Cashew Master Training program and continues to support such initiatives in the industry.</p>